By Bella Butler EBS Editorial Assistant
The Lone Peak High School football team returned to Big Sky late Sept. 23 with their third consecutive victory in hand. The 42-16 win over the Tri-City Titans—a co-op team made up of athletes from Hobson, Moore and Judith—was the Big Horns first road win as an eight-man program.
Just a few days prior to the game, sophomore kicker Milosz Shipman suffered an injury in practice, leaving him unable to play in the matchup. Junior Holden Samuels stepped in as kicker and converted both of his extra point attempts.
The Big Horns began the game on offense, and quickly used their first possession to score as junior receiver Liam Germain caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Eddie Starz.
Lone Peak made quick work on defense, regaining possession quickly from the Titans and scoring again as Starz ran the ball in 1 yard for another six points. Junior Rhett Leuzinger finished off the first quarter scoring with a 16-yard run for the Big Horns’ third touchdown.
The Titans fought back at the beginning of the second quarter, scoring a touchdown and two-point conversion. But the Big Horns answered with two consecutive touchdowns, both by junior Bridger Babcock. Despite the Big Horns’ big lead, the half ended grimly for Lone Peak as Tri-Cities connected a pass for a second touchdown and Starz received a helmet to the hip, ending the night for the starting quarterback.
Undeterred by Starz’s injury, Samuels adopted his second out-of-system role for the night and finished the game strong at quarterback. Lone Peak’s defense proved a strength yet again by holding the Titans to 16 points and Samuels led the team with 14 tackles. Babcock picked up the most rushing yards with 94, as the offense gained 298 yards overall.
Lone Peak next battles Park City on the road, on Friday night, Sept. 30. Shields Valley visits the Big Horns on Friday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. for homecoming and the second night football game in LPHS history.
