A fatal shooting that killed one BL student, with another accused of the act, changed the tone for the 78th annual Iron Horse rivalry football game on Wednesday, when the Scots fell to Ogden 37-6 at home to finish 0-9 in Ty Smith’s first season as head coach.

It’s been a football season of firsts for Smith and first-year Ogden coach Terry Larson, who replaced longtime coach Erik Thompson over the offseason. Larson and Smith joined their players at midfield — both sides forming one group with interlocked arms — before the game for a moment of silence, one of several acts aimed at lowering the temperature for a sometimes heated sports competition.

“It’s eye-opening from an adult perspective, and I can’t even imagine for these kids,” Smith said. “To have a peer going through this, it’s even like I told them at halftime, our season this year, we started off with 28 kids and 14 of those probably have never played football before. But at the end of the day, it’s just high school football — it’s just a game we’re trying to teach. That’s what we can offer for a lot of kids in the community.”

A combination of Ogden quarterback Blake Weston and running back Anderson Curry was far too much for BL in the first half as the Tigers ballooned a 9-0 first-quarter lead to 37-nil by halftime.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

The Tigers now lead the series 55-23 and end a second consecutive season with a winning record of 6-4 (2-3 3A North) in Larson’s debut as head coach.

But the tone of Wednesday’s regular-season finale wasn’t lost on the visiting Tigers as they took the field for what’s normally a highly anticipated rivalry between the two crosstown neighbors.

“It’s been kind of an emotional week, obviously, with everything going on, so we wanted to make sure we showed some compassion,” Larson said. “I think it was great for both sides.”

Curry scored the game’s opening drive, and Ogden’s defense brought down BL junior Tykston Yates in the back of the end zone for a safety in the first quarter. Weston found junior wide receiver Jack Thompson twice — first from 35 yards and again from 20 — and junior tight end Nash Bockwoldt for a 7-yard touchdown pass before halftime.

Ogden recovered possession with under a minute left in the first half and Curry registered his second rushing touchdown to make it a 37-0 contest at the break.

BL (0-9, 0-5) opened the second half with quite the scoring drive, switching the field over 4 minutes and finishing big on a deep ball from senior quarterback Tristan Jessop to senior athlete Gavin Rivera. Junior running back Deshawn Gordon’s two-point run ended short, and the Scots stuck with 6.

The second-half flashes didn’t end for the Scots. Junior linebacker Jaylen Milton came up with an interception against Ogden sophomore quarterback Emmett Rector, whose pass was tipped by Rivera and secured by Milton in the back of the end zone to thwart another Ogden scoring drive.

BL and Ogden await their respective seedings within the 3A state playoff bracket, slated for reveal at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.