OGDEN — At the beginning of the season the Morgan Trojans set several goals, one of which was to host a first round state 3-A playoff game. With a 52-21 romp over Ogden on Thursday night, the Trojans reached that objective by securing second place in Region 11 – good enough for a home playoff date in two weeks.
The Trojans (5-1 in league play, 6-3 overall) absolutely took it to the Tigers, who were playing their last home game of the season. Less than a minute into the first quarter Morgan’s Joe Kippen sprinted 37 yards untouched for the game’s first points and the rout was on.
Morgan scored 28 points in the first quarter, 14 in the second and 10 more early in the third quarter before yanking their starters in favor of the junior varsity team. By then, the Trojans were up 52-7.
The Trojans amassed more than 400 yards of offense by halftime and finished with 530. To call the game a mismatch would be understating it.
“I think we know how to play in tight games, so it’s nice to get one like this every once in a while,” Morgan coach Kovi Christiansen said. “To be honest, I thought it was going to be a little tighter than it turned out to be. I was a little surprised with how well we were able to execute on offense, so I’m proud of the guys.”
Bridger Anderson led the Trojans with 109 yards rushing on just eight carries. Ben Holland finished with 81 yards on only four carries, and Kippen had 73 yards in just three attempts. Kade Carrigan, perhaps Morgan’s best running back, is nursing an injury and luckily for Ogden, didn’t even dress for the game.
Quarterback Ben Saunders, meanwhile, continued to show that Morgan can throw the ball, too. He finished with 209 yards passing and three touchdowns. Saunders’ primary target was Lantzen Toomer, who had three catches for 101 yards and two TDs.
After Kippen’s early touchdown, Kody Hoopes followed with a 2-yard dive for a score. He was followed by Toomer (40-yard reception), Holland (24-yard run), Toomer again (57-yard reception), Kayson Hansen (63-yard reception), Mitch Wamsley (3-yard run) and a 27-yard field goal from Camen Gray.
“Everyone was clicking and doing things right,” Christiansen said. “Ben throws a nice ball and that’s a dimension in our offense that we don’t often have. Being able to add that to our running game, which is usually pretty good, is nice to have.”
Morgan finishes its regular season slate with a non-league road game at Roy next Wednesday.
Ogden’s one bright spot was junior running back Josh Shackleford, who had a second-quarter rushing touchdown as well as an 84-yard touchdown reception late in the third quarter. He finished with seven catches for 180 yards.
Ogden is now tied for fourth place with one league game to go. The Tigers must win at Grantsville to earn Region 11’s final postseason spot.
• TOOELE 45, BEN LOMOND 7: At Tooele, Kyle Fletcher and Zach Coffman had two rushing touchdowns each and the Buffaloes rumbled to a 35-0 halftime lead before calling off the dogs in a home blowout.
Braxton Chapman rushed for a 2-yard TD plunge in the third quarter for the Scots’ lone score.
In Thursday’s other Region 11 matchup, Stansbury held off Grantsville 14-13.
Non-region
• PINE VIEW 38, BEAR RIVER 21: At Ephraim, the Panthers defense picked off Bears quarterback Kyle Zundel four times en route to a victory at Snow College’s Robert L. Stoddard field.
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