North Sanpete spoils CHS Homecoming with 27-7 loss

By Sun Advocate

Visiting Hawks take advantage of Dino turnovers, penalties to grab win in front of Carbon’s largest home crowd in three years
With a large and raucous crowd on hand for the annual Homecoming Game, the Carbon High Football team had all the ingredients needed for a home field advantage and a win on one of the biggest home games of the year.
But, the North Sanpete Hawks had different plans. One of those plans included grabbing momentum early and silencing the home crowd.
The Hawks grabbed a commanding 20-0 halftime lead and never looked back as they defeated Carbon High 27-7 on Friday night.
North Sanpete took advantage of a Carbon turnover in the first quarter as they converted on a fourth-and-long to get deep in Carbon territory. A few plays later, they scored the first touchdown on the night, a 1-yard run by running back Spencer Applegarth.
North Sanpete (1-3 overall) added two more touchdowns in the second quarter capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brady Wheeler to wide receiver Bob Serrano with thirty seconds left in the half. They added another touchdown in the third quarter to go up 27-0.
Down by double digits late in the fourth quarter, CHS Head Coach Jan Jorgensen told his team during a timeout not to show any signs of quitting despite the deficit.
Carbon used that motivation by finally getting on the scoreboard with 3:30 left in the game as quarterback Jarod Lessar scored on a 1-yard run to make it 27-7. Carbon’s Marcus Castro recovered a muffed punt catch deep in North Sanpete territory to help set up the touchdown.
Lessar, who averaged over 180 yards passing through Carbon’s first three game, finished the game 8-of-19 for 49 yards. The Carbon rushing attack also struggled to break through the North Sanpete defense as they were limited to 46 yards on 22 carries. The Dinos came into the game averaging 119 rushing yards.
Carbon wide receiver Garrett Blanc, who averaged over 100 yards receiving and one touchdown per game, led the Dinos with seven catches for 52 yards but was held without a touchdown for the first time this season.
Both teams combined for a number of penalties throughout the game as North Sanpete had at least three touchdowns called back to due holding and blocks in the back.
With the loss on Friday night, Carbon is now 3-1 on the season. The contest against North Sanpete was the first game Carbon has played against a fellow 3A school. Carbon’s three prior games came against two 2A schools (Grand High, American Leadership Academy) and a 1A school (Duchesne High).
The Dinos will travel north on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. as they enter 3A North play against Grantsville High School (0-4).
The Cowboys lost their last game on Sept. 12 falling to Juab 14-7.