Lions Beat the Skyhawks

By Brady Clark

Aug—Playing in their first road game of the season, the Payson Lions traveled to Salem Hills High School to take on rival SkyHawks. 

Payson’s assistant coach Lloyd Mason motivated the team in a pre game speech. “We’re all in boys, now the question is; are you guys?”

                The Lions started the game off strong, with a drive starting from the 20 yard line.  Junior quarter back Devan Judd led the Lion’s offense down field to the 3 yd line, Judd then capped off the drive with a QB sneak for a touchdown.  On the very next kickoff freshman linebacker John Harmon forced a fumble on Salem running back Sione Wolfgramm, giving the Lion’s offense a second chance to put up more points.  The Lion offense didn’t waste any time, Devan then hit senior wide receiver Creighton Thompson for a 21 yard touchdown. 

                Middle of the second quarter the Lion’s led the SkyHawks 13-3, the Lions looking to capitalize on their field position Judd scrambled to the right and lost the football.  SkyHawk defenders retrieved the football, one of two turnovers in the game for Judd.  Salem Hills took advantage of their opportunity and on their first play, Salem QB Ryan Stevens ran for a SkyHawk 56 yd touchdown.  Following a Lions three and out, Salem looked to be rolling.  Salem continued its game plan by handing the ball to senior running back Sione Wolfgramm and having him run for a 37 yard touchdown.  What used to be a 13-3 lead Salem Hills took over and led the game 17-13.  The Lions looked to be shocked and not as focused, and on their next drive miss-handled a snap and Salem recovered and ran it into the end zone.

                In a short three minutes, the Lions lost a 10 point lead and it quickly turned into an 11 point deficit.  The Lion sideline looked to be shocked and out of words, and the offense showed going three and out once again.

                The Lion defense looking for something to bring the Lions some life, sophomore cornerback Kyle Moffat answered the call.  Picking off a pass and giving the ball back to the offense.  The Lion offense looked to be rejuvenated; Judd picked up where he left off and hit senior wide receiver Clint Bateman for a 12 yard touchdown.             

                Going into halftime the Lions trailed 20-24 to the rival Sky Hawks.

                To start the half Salem’s offense drove the field and capped off with a 6 yd touchdown pass to Kirk Haney.  The Lion’s offense looked determined and wasn’t going to let anyone stop them especially Clint Bateman.  QB Judd looked to Bateman time and time again on third down conversions, and Bateman came through every time.  Judd then connected with his favorite target Clint Bateman on an incredible roll out laser pass, for a 20 yard touchdown.

                Just like the Lion offense, Salem’s offense was rolling just the same.  They drove the field and capped off the drive with a two yard run by Joseph Butler.  Lions trailing 27-38 to start the fourth quarter, fans in the stands were nervous and looking for a big play to get Payson back into the game.  Wide receiver Creighton Thompson gladly stepped up to plate and caught in unbelievable streak pass from Judd that put the Lions at the 45 yard line.  Devan hit his older brother Dalton on his first catch of the game and Dalton breaking one tackle and running free down field, with one defender to beat Creighton Thompson blocked his man to the ground and Dalton Judd ran free to the end zone, giving the Lions new life.

                The defense stepped up to the plate forcing a three and out the first one of the second half, by tackles from junior defensive end Taris Schramm, senior line backer Cole Ford, and senior line backer Jake Barker.  Giving the ball back to the hot Lion offense, with under 2 minutes left in the game the Lions student section and parents were all on their feet thanks to sophomore Colton Allred, by running up and down the sideline and waving his hands trying to get everyone on their feet.

                The Lion offense looking to take the lead on what looked to be their last chance in the game, with two minutes left in the game.  Looking to keep up his amazing performance, Judd found senior receiver Zack Loveless for a 20 yard gain.  Catching the SkyHawk defense off guard, Head Coach Jeremy Chapman calls a QB sneak and Judd runs for 20 yards.  With the ball on the 17 yard line, Judd capped off his amazing game with a jump ball to Clint Bateman.  With one final defensive stand by the defense, sophomore lineman Derrick Johnson sacked the Salem QB to seal the victory for the Lions.

                As the clock reached double zeros, the team rushed the field and created a big mosh pit in the middle of the field, after the celebration the Lions rushed to the locker room where the celebrating continued even more. 

                The game couldn’t have been won without the amazing performances from the QB and WR position.  Anyone on the team would tell you though that the true MVP’s of the game are the Offensive lineman consisting of four sophomores, one freshman, and the lone senior.  They protected Judd the whole game allowing him to throw for an amazing 31-48 attempts and 487 passing yards and five touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, and to top off the week QB Devan Judd had received player of the week honors.

                Payson travels to Lehi High School on September 9, the Lions are currently 1-2.