The Grand County High School (GCHS) football team defeated South Sevier 49-7 in the Red Devils’ regular-season home finale on Friday, Oct. 11, as senior quarterback Bryant Troutt threw for three touchdowns and rushed for three more, while the GCHS defense kept the Rams at bay throughout the contest.
A combined five touchdowns were scored in the first quarter alone, four in the last four minutes as GCHS opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown connection from Troutt to Trea Meyer at the 6:35 mark. At 3:49, Troutt ran in for a score from 13 yards out, then after a fumble recovery by Jaymmin Hester, GCHS capped off a three-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Troutt to senior Brayden Cloud, leading 21-0 at the 1:55 mark.
South Sevier scored on a 79-yard touchdown pass that glanced off the hand of junior cornerback Ryelan Jones into the receiver’s hands. On the next play from scrimmage following the kickoff, however, Troutt broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run, and after one quarter, the Red Devils led 28-7.
The Red Devil defense owned the second quarter, intercepting four of the Rams passes, one each by Jones and Chance Arbon, and two by Cloud. GCHS scored two more touchdowns; a 16-yard pass from Troutt to Cloud, and a 7-yard run by Troutt, to ensure a “mercy rule” running clock in the second half with a 42-7 lead.
“It was another one of those games where it didn’t matter what I called, the offense executed,” GCHS football coach Dennis Wells said. “There were big holes to run through and Bryant was on his passes. It looked like he couldn’t do anything wrong.”
With the clock running continuously in the second half, except for on timeouts and changes of possession, The Red Devils kept the Rams off the scoreboard and tacked on one more touchdown of their own, a 12-yard run by senior Brayden Troutt in the fourth quarter, for a 49-7 win, improving GCHS’s record to 5-4, 3-1 in Region 12 play.
On the stat sheet, Bryant Troutt had 18 rushes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 5-of-8 passes for 90 yards and three touchdowns. Troutt currently leads 3A with 1,298 rushing yards. Brayden Troutt had 11 tackles and a forced fumble defensively, while Hester, Clynn Backus, Tyler Morey and Morgan Alvey each recorded a sack.
The Red Devils have their regular-season finale this week at Richfield, on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. The Wildcats, coming off of a 28-7 win over Emery, have an identical record to Grand at 5-4, 3-1, and have scored almost exactly as many points in nine games as the Red Devils (Richfield 215, Grand 212). The Wildcats run the ball well out of a spread offense and have a good offensive line, Wells said.
“Whoever wins (this week’s game) has an outside chance of hosting a playoff game,” Wells said. “It depends on where the RPI (rating percentage index) rankings fall after the game.
Wells said the Red Devils have done well beating the teams they’re supposed to beat, but have to learn to win the tough games, like the one he expects this week.
“You’ve got to be ready to work hard for four quarters to win close games,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we executed, and we’re all on the same page.”
“There were big holes to run through and Bryant was on his passes. It looked like he couldn’t do anything wrong.”
– Dennis Wells, GCHS football coach
Troutt has six touchdowns versus Rams
