The Park City Miners beat Deer Creek 35-6 on Senior Night at Dozier Field on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
The win closed the regular season at 5-5 overall and 5-2 in Region 8, according to MaxPreps. More important, it kept the Miners firmly in the 4A playoff picture. Park City entered the game ranked No. 14 in the UHSAA 4A RPI standings, with the top 16 teams advancing to the postseason.
The final rankings and playoff bracket will be released this weekend, KPCW reported.
The stakes are higher than usual. The UHSAA reduced the 4A playoff field from 24 to 16 teams this season, the Park Record reported in September. That tighter cutline made every regular-season result count, and the Miners spent much of the fall on the bubble.
Park City sat at 4-5 entering the finale after a 24-23 overtime loss to Timpanogos on Oct. 8. Head Coach Dennis Cunningham's team had dropped three close games during the season. After the Timpanogos loss, Cunningham told the Park Record, "We gotta get better so that we can go into the playoffs on momentum."
Senior quarterback Josh Hofer and running back Sully Pate led the offense against Deer Creek. Knox Groenenboom and Brogan Price also contributed to the scoring, according to KPCW.
Wednesday's 29-point margin gave the Miners the kind of finish Cunningham wanted heading into the postseason.
If Park City holds its spot inside the top 16, the first round of the 4A playoffs begins Oct. 30. Semifinals are scheduled for Nov. 12-13, with the championship game set for Nov. 20 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
