Fall sports seasons begin with a bang

SPORTS SHORTS

by Scott Boyle

We always told our kids when they were teenagers, “There is always safety in numbers.”  The San Juan Broncos were elated on August 22 in Kanab that the winning number was a safety, with a 22-19 win over the number one rated 1A Kanab Cowboys. The Bronco football team win denied Cowboy head coach Bucky Orton his 50th win. 

With the win, the Broncos extend their state leading scoring streak to 103 games.  The Broncos were last shutout in 1999, in a 40-0 loss to Manti. 

On this night, the Broncos and the Cowboys traded touchdowns throughout a night of classic football, with the Cowboys drawing the first score of the season, but the Broncos the last. 

The Broncos came right back after that first Kanab TD to begin the scoring season on a six yard pass from QB Kyle Johnson to Nate Einerson.  The all important safety came by the defense in the second quarter, as the offenses continued to trade touchdowns. 

For San Juan, a third quarter 53 yard run by Einerson and a fourth quarter Jimmy Tate one yard run put the Broncos ahead for good and ending Kanab’s winning streak at ten.  Workhorse Kohler Black rushed for 182 yards to carry the Bronco offensive effort.

Buckaroo football

Despite a game effort by the offense, which gained more than 400 yards on the evening, the Monticello Bucks fell to the hometown Parowan Rams football team Friday night in Parowan. 

Daniel Torres tossed touchdown passes to Gabe Beh and Devin Wright, but the Buckaroos failed to capitalize on several trips inside the Ram red zone. 

Penalties and other early season misplays plagued the Bucks, and allowed the Rams to triumph in the first game of their 60th season of football. Despite the loss, the Bucks have the confidence to fix the problems. 

Lady Buckaroo Volleyball

The Monticello Lady Bucks started the 2008 volleyball season out with a bang, capturing the title in the prestigious North Sevier Tournament.

Monticello beat last year’s 1A champion Panguitch, and 2007 2A runnerup North Sevier, along the way.  Keep watching for a volleyball preview coming in next week’s San Juan Record.

Lady Bronco Volleyball

In a scenario reminiscent of Bronco football fortunes two years ago, the Lady Bronco volleyball team lost its top player before school even started.

Three time MVP volleyball player Heather Meyer’s much anticipated senior season ended before it even started when Meyer tore her ACL in a July summer tournament at Utah Valley University.  Surgery in late July started Meyer on the road to recovery, but it is not known whether or not she will be able to return this season. 

“She’s working on it,” says dad, Scott Meyer.  “It’s pretty sad, but, that’s athletics; sometimes injuries happen.” 

The Lady Broncos will carry on.  And before you count them out, remember that 2006 edition of the Bronco football team. After team leader Roman Black went down with a season ending injury in the first minute of the first game of the season, the Broncos went on to capture the state championship.

Lindsey Chronicles

The final installment of the Lindsey Chronicles, with Olympian Lindsey Anderson allowing us to join in on her Olympic adventure. 

In Part V, Lindsey has returned home and is looking to the future.  Says Lindsey, “It’s so good to be home!  At least for a little bit . . . I’m going to Paris in a few weeks for a race there and then possibly one more race after that before taking a break.  Thanks so much for all the publicity down there in Monticello!  It’s been so fun to send in answers to all your questions and I definitely feel like I am a true Monticelloian.”

Following are some questions by third grade students at Monticello Elementary and Lindsey’s responses. 

Q:  Are you happy about how you did in the Olympics? 

A:  “Overall, yes.  I was disappointed because I went into it with the goal of making the finals and came up short.  I knew that I would need a personal record to make it to finals.  It turns out I would have had to PR by about three seconds. 

“The race went out a little quicker than I thought it would, so the first couple laps I was a little faster than I anticipated but I still felt fine.  It wasn’t until about two and a half laps to go that I started to feel the quick first laps and I just couldn’t close the gap on the leaders. 

“So not making finals was a little disappointing, but overall it was good.  I did run my second fastest time ever, so that was good! 

“Being there and being a part of that experience was so amazing. I learned a lot from it, which will help me throughout my running career.” 

Q:  How many competitors were there? 

A:  “In the women’s steeplechase there were 51 athletes competing. Fifteen made it to finals.”  

Q:  How fast did you run? 

A:  “I ran 9:36, my second fastest time.”  

Q:  Can we have your autograph? 

A:  “You sure can!” 

Q:  Can you get Michael Phelps’ autograph?

A:  “Unfortunately I couldn’t get his.  He wasn’t in the village very much and when he was he was pretty heavily guarded by his coaches/agents, as you can imagine.  But I was able to get a picture with him the night he won his first gold medal so that was fun.  He is pretty amazing!”

Q:  Where have you been in China? 

A:  “I was in a city called Dalian for the first week I was there.  It’s about an hour flight from Beijing.  I stayed there with the rest of the USA track team to train and then I flew back to Beijing for the opening ceremonies and stayed there until I came home on the 20th.  Both Dalian and Beijing were great and everyone was so nice!”

Q:  We want to invite you and Mark to run the Newspapers Rock 10K on October 11. 

A:  “Unfortunately I can’t promise anything.  October 11 would be when I’d be taking my much needed time off.  We plan on coming to Blue Mountain next year... that might be the best possibility!”