Ogden • Sports can be funny sometimes.
Take Duchesne’s 27-14 victory over Parowan in Friday’s Class 1A football state semifinal at Weber State.
The defending champion Eagles looked as if they were going to sail to an easy win after a dominating first half where they took a 21-0 lead on three time-consuming drives. It looked as though this one was over.
But no one told Parowan.
The Rams rallied behind quarterback Porter Miller and a stifling defense to make it 21-14. And they quickly got the ball for a potential tying score.
“That’s how sports is supposed to be,” veteran Duchesne coach Jerry Cowan said. “No one wants to watch a 21-0 game and see the other quit. And to give them credit, they believed in themselves and got themselves back into the game. Our guys didn’t quit either. It was exciting to coach, play and watch.”
Duchesne’s key player was unassuming Jaren Mortensen. His two interceptions in the second half stopped Parowan’s comeback. He only caught three passes, but two of them went for touchdowns.
“We knew they had to go deep, so I just played deep,” Mortensen said. “I read the passes and the line got pressure on them. That made it easy for me. We always expect to make big plays.”
Duchesne will be playing for its sixth football state title since 2010. And the Eagles did it their way.
That meant long, time-consuming drives that relied heavily on the run.
Weston Poulson capped the first 17-play, 8 minute, 42 second drive with a 4-yard run. Poulson scored again on a 1-yard scramble to finish a 14-play, 74-yard run.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Duchesne’s Jaren Mortensen caught two touchdown passes of 20 and 38 yards and stopped two late Parowan rallies with intercepted passes.
Then lightning struck. Adrian Carillo fell on a fumble and Jarrett Spencer hit Mortensen on a 20-yard touchdown pass to put Parowan in serious trouble.
“That’s what Duchesne football is all about,” Cowan said. “We had the ball three times and scored all three times. The second half was a different story.”
That’s when Parowan came out on fire. The Rams stopped Duchesne on defense and found their offense, with Miller scoring on a 13-yard touchdown and finding Ethan Guymon for a 41-yard touchdown two minutes later.
The Eagles didn’t panic as Mortensen stopped two drives with intercepted passes then got a 38-yard scoring pass from Spencer to Mortensen to put it away.
“Everybody expects it to be easy,” said Cowan, whose teams have become the dominant force in 1A football. “But there is always a new challenge. People think it gets old, but your heart pumps hard. Every year is different.”
But Duchesne would be happy if this one finished like last year next week.