The Skyview Storm got to do something Saturday night they haven’t been able to do the past couple of days — smile, if just for a little while.
The Storm played with heavy hearts after their teammate, junior William “Liam” Sloan, died suddenly in his sleep earlier this week.
But Gavin Packer scored three touchdowns, the last coming with 43 seconds to play to lift the Storm to a 21-14 win over No. 9 Richland at Kiggins Bowl.
“That’s what I said before — all we need to do is play,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “That’s the best medicine right there. We played and the kids rallied around each other. We made some mistakes. It wasn’t certainly a perfect game, but the kids played hard.”
The Storm found themselves in an early hole after an interception led to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Woodard to Zachary Rose, giving Richland a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Bombers looked ready to score again after recovering a mishandled ball on the ensuing kickoff. Then Packer stepped up in front of Woodard pass and raced 77 yards for a touchdown, tying the game 7-7.
The defense again made a stand after a bad snap on a punt gave Richland the ball on the Skyview 29 in the second quarter.
Doogie Poindexter hit Packer on a 48-yard pass play. Then two plays later, Packer made a one-handed grab in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown that put the Storm up 14-7 just before halftime.
Both teams traded long drives that did not result in points to open the third quarter.
Then Richland was able to drive into the end zone on Jakob Brannan’s 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game 14-14 with 9:43 in the fourth quarter.
After consecutive three-and-outs by the offense, the Skyview defense got fourth-down stops at its own 32 and 37 yard line, giving the Storm the ball again with 2:10 to play.
Packer had runs of 13 and 10 yards, then added an 15-yard reception to put Skyview into the red zone.
With 43 seconds to play, Poindexter hit Packer on a 19-yard touchdown pass, putting Skyview up 21-14.
Richland quickly drove to the Skyview 37, but Micah Robison’s interception in the end zone sealed the win for the Storm.
“That’s a hell of a team,” Kizer said of Richland. “They got some great players. We might see them again down the road.”
SKYVIEW 21, RICHLAND 14
Richland 7 0 0 7—14
Skyview 7 7 0 7—21
First quarter
R—Zachary Rose 39 pass from Jackson Woodard (Dylan Dunnum kick)
S—Gavin Packer 77 interception return (Lawrence Tang kick)
Second quarter
S—Packer 20 pass from Doogie Poindexter (Tang kick)
Fourth quarter
R—Jakob Brannan 3 run (Dunnum kick)
S—Packer 19 pass from Poindexter (Tang kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Richland: Jakob Brannan 14-16, Joshua Biggs 1-1, Jackson Woodard 5-6, Sylen Kiesel-Kauhane 2-0, Cannon Weikum 3-(-3), Zachary Rose 0-12. Skyview: Rex Allinger 10-44, Levi Webb 7-22, Gavin Packer 4-35, Doogie Poindexter 2-(-18), team 2-(-25).
PASSING — Richland: Woodard: 18-30-2-200. Skyview: Poindexter 16-23-1-178.
RECEIVING — Richland: Preston Bryant 4-45, Zachary Rose 3-56, Brannan 3-28, Colson Mackey 5-46, Hayden Galloweay 1-8, Ethan VanBeek 2-16. Skyview: Packer 9-142, Micah Robison 5-40, Kaden Hamlin 2-(-4).
