Late chances go begging, Ben Lomond’s best season in 23 years ends in home playoff loss
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- Ben Lomond’s Hunter Christensen (1) carries the football in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Rohan Green (51) and teammates wrap up Union’s Jacob Sasser (12) in a 3A first-round game Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Charlie Thornblad rises to catch a pass in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Jake East (58) battles Union’s Will Gamble (14) in a 3A first-round game Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Charlie Thornblad (6) runs the ball in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Davian Muñoz (3) tries to break a tackle from Union’s Tanner Womack (18) in a 3A first-round game Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa readies to throw in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Charlie Thornblad runs in front of quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond receiver John Suka (14) tries to outrun Union defenders in a 3A first-round game Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Alec Blue (52) blocks for running back Charlie Thornblad (6) in a 3A first-round game against Union on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ben Lomond’s Davian Muñoz (3) carries the football against Union’s Brandon Pugh (7) in a 3A first-round game Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Ogden.
OGDEN — Chance after chance presented itself to the Ben Lomond football team to win Friday’s home playoff game against Union in the final minutes.
Chance after chance went begging.
The No. 6 Scots’ first home playoff game in 40 years ended in a 13-10 loss to the No. 11-seeded and one-win Cougars, thus ending Ben Lomond’s best season since 2000.
Trailing 13-10 with 4:50 left in the fourth quarter, the Scots (6-5) got the ball back, drove into Union (2-8) territory and quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa threw an interception to Union’s Crew Iverson.
BL got a stop and got the ball back with 3:10 left, but Omar Murillo’s 49-yard field goal went 48 yards and barely missed.
Again, the Scots got a stop, got the ball back near midfield and Tuatagaloa threw a last-ditch prayer as time expired, but that was well short of the end zone.
“Sadness,” Tuatagaloa said. “Like, the people I grew up playing with, like my family, I can’t play with them anymore — especially my brother.”
The Scots’ players picked themselves up off the turf to sing the school hymn afterward, but their faces were as red as their home jerseys and filled with tears. They spent about 25 minutes in the locker room after leaving the field.
“I told the seniors that I loved them and that they did a lot for our school and our community, and they gotta be proud of that. It should hurt like hell, and it does,” BL head coach Lyndon Johnson said.
Both teams traded long, empty possessions for most of the first half. With 46 seconds left and the game still scoreless, Tuatagaloa found John Suka on a comeback route on the left side and Suka did the rest, tiptoeing down the sideline for a 24-yard touchdown and a 7-0 BL halftime lead.
To that point, the Scots had fumbled and were stopped on the goal line, so Suka’s touchdown appeared to be an opening of the gates, but it wasn’t.
Union marched down on the first drive of the second half and scored a touchdown, but the extra point was blocked and BL retained a 7-6 lead.
“Execution; we had a bad practice. We had a bad week of practice, we came out sloppy,” Tuatagaloa said.
Omar Murillo made a 49-yard field goal to give the Scots a 10-6 lead, but they had a Jaxon Watson touchdown reception called back due to offensive pass interference. They had several additional dropped passes, missed blocks and untimely penalties throughout the game, and couldn’t consistently move the ball on offense without the help of Union penalties.
“Sad, disappointed. We didn’t have a very good week of practice and that’s ultimately on my head. They’re 17, I’m 48. I just didn’t do a good enough job,” Johnson said.
Union went three plays and 80 yards on the next drive, running two counter plays up the middle that Johnson said Ben Lomond hadn’t seen before.
That gave the Cougars a 13-10 lead with 9:50 left in the game, a lead they never relinquished despite the Scots’ three late chances to win or tie the game.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.