THE YARGERS: Easter

The day before Easter we went to Jesse's Stampede Football game at Logan High. Here is the article from the local newspaper:

Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2011 12:30 am | Updated: 1:10 am, Sun Apr 24, 2011.

Stampede hold off Desperados By Tyler Huskinson The Herald Journal | 0 comments

After a rough start to the season dropping back-to-back games on the road, the Logan Stampede looked to the friendly confines of Crimson Field to pick up their first win of the season Saturday night.

Despite making several mental errors and giving the visiting Utah Valley Desperados several chances, the Stampede squeaked out their first victory of the season, 14-13.

"You always want to walk away with a victory," Stampede head coach Bracken Atkinson said. "We made it about as hard as we could tonight.

"This team was hungry. Both teams came in 0-2. The last time we faced off was in the championship game here two years ago. There was a lot riding on this game from a history standpoint, but we're just glad we made one more play than they did. It's nice to flip that after the last two games."

The Desperados struck first four minutes into the first quarter, but failed to convert on the extra point.

Less than two minutes later quarterback Mike Jenkins connected on a 37-yard strike to receiver Jesse Yarger to give the Stampede a 7-6 lead.

With the Desperados threatening, defensive back Aaron Dickler picked off the ball and returned it 35 yards.

"Defense stepped up," Stampede linebacker KC Winslow said. "Our defense is always good. We tweaked a couple of things this year to where we're rotating different guys in different guys in different situations."

The Stampede would respond with a drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jenkins.

The Stampede would took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at halftime, but wouldn't be able to score any more points despite having several chances.

"The biggest difference between the first and second half was we came out really dictating tempo in the first half ... and caught them off guard, kind of wore them out a little bit," Atkinson said. "We just shot ourselves in the foot. We couldn't execute. We couldn't finish it in the end zone."

The problems getting in the end zone truly started right before the end of the second quarter.

The Stampede found themselves on their own 1-yard line and ended up failing to score at all. The Stampede incurred two consecutive illegal procedure penalties, and a completed pass from Jenkins to running back Dave Williams fell at 4-yards short of scoring.

"We definitely gotta get better at that," Winslow said of the penalties. "We had way too many. First and goal from a yard and half and end up not even getting in. How can we do that? We have these stupid penalties. We've gotta get into the mental."

Running back Roger Schatz caught a 5-yard pass to bring the Desperados within one.

The Stampede would shut down the Desperado offense for the remainder of the game, including putting a great amount of pressure on the quarterback.

"We're trying to get as much pressure and as much fresh bodies in there and put pressure on the quarterback, as you saw, he was running around all game long," WInslow said.

The Desperados mounted one final comeback drive the final minutes of the game. On fourth and 25 and with about 30 seconds remaining, the Stampede defense really came through.

"In that timeout that they had taken before we kind of put a little stunt in where Travis Davis and I twisted and he took three guys and they all followed him," Winslow said. "I just kind of forced him out to that side. Dale (Nicholas) stayed home and was right there to meet him for a huge loss."

The Stampede now take advantage of a bye week before preparing for the Magic Valley Bulldawgs.

"We've got a lot of injuries and people playing where they're not normally going to be playing," Atkinson said. "We'll take the weak off and recuperate and fix some of our issues."