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Provo and Park City players shake hands after a prep football game on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Provo players kneel while an injured teammate is attended to in a prep football game against Park City on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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It was definitely a weird week for prep football with six valley games postponed to a second day of competition. But nothing was more bizarre than the 4A Region 8 contest between Park City and host Provo as Park City shocked the Bulldogs winning 22-21.

The game Friday ended in the second quarter and had to be rescheduled. It became a divisive subject as Provo wanted to finish the game on Saturday morning and Park City wanted a Monday night completion. The Miner forces won out but the tension on the field as play resumed was palpable.

There were just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter when the game resumed Monday night and Provo was driving. The Bulldogs put the ball in the end zone with 1:07 remaining in the first half when Brexton Hunter caught a 13-yarder from Drevin Christensen. This was Hunter’s second score as he hauled in a 4-yard reception from Christensen on the first play of the second quarter during Friday night’s action.

As play ended in the second quarter, any halftime show was aborted and Park City kicked off to Provo. But this is when things started to fall apart for the Bulldogs.

Brexton Hunter appeared to return the kickoff to the house but a holding penalty erased that. Provo was also whistled on an unsportsmanlike penalty so instead of possibly going up 21-0 and taking full control, the Bulldogs started on their own 7-yard line.

Then on the very next play Park City’s Sully Pate picked off a Christensen pass and returned it 23 yards to paydirt. The point after was blocked so Provo led 14-6.

On Provo’s second possession, Park City secured another interception by linebacker Kaleb Collier. He actually fumbled the return but in the melee to recover the ball it rolled back to him and the Miners retained possession. Then on the very next play Reid McCurdy broke through on a 16-yard scamper. Park City went for the two-point conversion but Provo secured a sack and the Bulldogs were still in front 14-12.

The horror show was far from over for Provo as on its next possession, Hunter was hit hard on a jet sweep run and the ball came loose and Park City recovered on the Bulldog 17-yard line. And to make matters worse, Hunter was injured and couldn’t play for the rest of the game.

Provo head coach Viliami Halasima called that a critical turning point in the game.

“Yeah, that sucked,” Halasima said of losing Hunter. “He’s one of the guys we lean on. That’s why we didn’t want to take the game into Monday but we’ll have to go on and have the next man ready.”

Provo’s defense rose up and stuffed the Miners but Will Haddon connected on a 35-yard field goal and Park City took a 15-14 lead. So in a span of 7:05, Park City scored three times on just four offensive plays and erased a 14-0 deficit.

Provo then drove the ball inside the Miner 5-yard line but the turnover bug hit again with another Bulldog fumble, stopping a possible go-ahead drive late in the third quarter.

Provo seemed to have steady the ship and went on another lengthy drive with running back Justice Tela and Liam Schoenrock doing a lot of the work. Schoenrock made a great catch on the Park City sidelines on a fourth down conversion. Then Tamatoa King had a nice 25-yard catch to move Provo inside the Miner 10-yard line. Then three plays later Christensen scored on a quarterback sneak.

Leading by five points 20-15 with 6:38 left in the final stanza, there was some confusion as the PAT team went on to the field. Then as the Bulldog coaching staff decided to go for a two-point conversion, the Bulldogs were flagged for illegal substitution. So Provo then kicked the successful extra point by Cannon Brinley from five yards back to take a 21-15 lead.

But Park City struck back with an 80-yard touchdown on its very next play. Park City’s Brogan Price hauled in a pass from Josh Hofer, streaking down the Miner sideline. It appeared Price had stepped out-of-bounds prior to the catch meaning he couldn’t by rule be the first player to touch the ball. But play stood and when Haddon hit the point after Park City was back on top 22-21.

Provo put together a drive and looked like it was in position for a field goal. But as Christensen scrambled Park City punched out the ball and Collier recovered it with just one minute left.

Despite this, the game still had one more strange twist to take.

Park City took over but Provo still had two timeouts left. The Miners just downed the ball twice and only five seconds ran off the clock. Park City then decided to run the ball with McCurdy but he was stuffed. Park City ran the time down to 10 seconds left before taking a timeout.

The ball rested at the 17-yard line and the Miner punt was shanked only traveling 10 yards. So now with five seconds left Provo lined up for a 44-yard field goal but the kick came up short and right and the Miners escaped with an improbable 22-21 victory.

Turnovers and penalties doomed the Bulldogs. On Friday Provo had two turnovers and then had four when play resumed on Monday night. The Bulldogs were also hit for numerous penalties as well. Incredibly Park City only ran 14 plays in the entire second half but scored 22 points.

“We got to coach it up and fix it in practice,” Halasima said of these critical miscues. “Turnovers really hurt us tonight and it carried from Friday into tonight. So that’s something we need to emphasize in practice. That’s on me. I need to do better making sure our guys are ready for that.”

With the loss, Provo falls to 2-4 overall and 2-1 in league play now making it a 5-way tie for first place between the Bulldogs, Park City, Salem Hills, Timpanogos and Uintah going into the final four games of the regular season. Provo will host Wasatch (1-5, 1-2) for Homecoming while Park City (2-4, 2-1) will be at home against Uintah (3-3, 2-1).

PARK CITY 22, PROVO 21

Park City 0 0 15 7 -22

Provo 0 14 0 7 -21

P- Hunter 4 pass from Christensen (Brinley kick)

P-Hunger 13 pass from Christensen (Brinley kick)

PC-Pate 23 interception return (kick failed)

PC-McCurdy 16 run (pass failed)PC-Haddon 35 FG P-Christensen 1 run (Brinley kick)

PC-Price 80 pass from Hofer (Haddon kick)