Park City High School fall sports have all concluded, except for volleyball which will begin its playoff run in early November. The eight different sports all began near the beginning of the school year and have had varied outcomes since. This week, the PC Prospector will provide an overview and brief summary of how each of the sports performed this fall season through three different articles.

This article focuses on football and volleyball.

Football

The Miners closed out their regular season with a 4-5 record, but finished third in 5A Region 6 with a region record of 4-2. Park City began their season 0-3, with three consecutive August losses to rival Wasatch, Green Canyon, and Pine View. Once September came around and region play started, they flipped the script. The Miners went 4-0 in September, winning all four region matchups against East, Murray, Highland, and Olympus. Park City closed out their season going 0-2 with close losses to region rivals Brighton and Skyline, the top two finishers in the region. 

The Miners took on Skyline once again on Oct. 22 in the first round of the 5A state playoffs. The Miners entered the playoffs as a 20 seed, facing the 13-seeded Eagles and were forced to play away at Skyline. They defeated Skyline 27-10 after a slow start on offense in the first three quarters, starting off with a 10-6 deficit at the end of the third quarter, even after Park City jumped up 6-0 in the early first quarter. The fourth quarter was a completely different story, thanks to a defensive touchdown by senior Stone Combs, a receiving touchdown by sophomore Will McCurdy, and a long rushing touchdown by senior Carson Tabaracci. The Miners shut out the Eagles 21-0 in the fourth quarter alone, finishing with a 27-10 victory to advance.

In the fourth quarter of the game against Skyline, Blake Tabaracci entered the game at quarterback for a drive when the Miners were trailing 10-6, and immediately threw a 28-yard touchdown to sophomore Will McCurdy in the back of the endzone to rejuvenate the Miners and take the lead. In the 4th quarter, Carson Tabaracci broke off a long touchdown run, his second on the game and his 15th on the season. 

The Miners advanced to the second round of the playoffs where they took on the 4-seeded Bountiful Redhawks at Bountiful on Oct. 29. The Miners struggled early, going down 17-3 in the second quarter and eventually 17-6 at halftime. Bountiful scored back to back rushing touchdowns, going up 25 points on the Miners going into the fourth quarter at a score of 31-6. Park City ultimately lost 38-20, ending their season with a record of 5-6.

Volleyball

The Miners girls’ volleyball team completed their season in third place in 5A region 6 with a region record of 8-4, entering the state playoffs as a 15 seed. The Miners will take on the winner of 18-seeded Uintah and 31-seeded East on Nov. 2 at home. The Miners finished with a regular season record of just under .500 at 12-13, though many of those losses came at tournaments against tougher opponents.

Park City will be looking for some new momentum going into the playoffs, as they ended their season on three straight losses to Skyline, Brighton, and non-region opponent Salem Hills. Skyline and Brighton finished 1 and 2 respectively in 5A region 6. Those two teams finished a combined 4-0 against Park City, the Miners’ only region losses on the season. 

Looking forward, if Park City defeats either East or Uintah, they will advance to face Mountain View, the second-seeded team in the conference. That game would be hosted at Utah Valley University in Orem on Nov. 4. Mountain View finished 23-5 overall and 11-1 in their region, finishing second behind Timpview High School.