Ogden • After a 24-year championship drought, the Grantsville Cowboys are champs once again.
The Cowboys beat the Morgan Trojans 14-10 on Saturday at Weber State’s Stewart Stadium to claim the UHSAA 3A state championship, the fourth football title in school history.
“When no one believed in us, we believed in ourselves,” said Grantsville’s Caleb Sullivan. “That feeling, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
The Cowboys and Trojans advanced to the finals after GHS beat Juan Diego 28-7 and MHS blew past Juab 54-38 on Nov. 6 where both games were held at Southern Utah University.
Headed into the title game, both schools’ overall record sat at 9-3, though the Cowboys had already beaten Morgan earlier in the season by a score of 21-7.
This first half of the matchup saw one score from Grantsville late in the first quarter. Sullivan went on an 11-play drive for 68 yards, punching the ball into the end zone himself for a 3-yard touchdown with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
Late into the third quarter, the Trojans found themselves in the end zone off of a handoff from Morgan quarterback Nick Despain to William Lance for a 7-yard touchdown. That capped a nine-play drive for 65 yards.
Beau Johnson attempted the extra point for the Trojans and evened the score at 7-7.
Less than three minutes later, and after an unsuccessful drive from Grantsville, the Trojan offense was back on the field.
The Trojans started their drive with Lance’s unsuccessful attempt to rush for any gain. On second-and-10, Despain found Gavin Turner on the 30-yard line for a gain of 18 yards.
After a 5-yard penalty on the Cowboys and two incomplete passes from the Trojans, Johnson was sent out for MHS to attempt a 41-yard field goal. Johnson sent the ball flying between the goal post and gave The Trojans their first lead of the game, 10-7.
Trailing for the first time of the night, the Cowboys answered back.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Sullivan got himself in the end zone for the second time of the night — this time on a 7-yard score — to put the Cowboys to 14-10.
In their final possession of the game, Despain tried to find a player in the end zone but was instead intercepted by Ethan Ranier, securing the victory for the Cowboys.
“That sealed the deal for me,” said Sullivan. “That really let the floodgates open and I couldn’t control it anymore. Like I said, it was the best feeling in the world.”
