Jayden Perkins’ huge night lifts Virgin Valley by Sunrise Mountain

The game plan was simple.

Hand the ball to Jayden Perkins, let the offensive line make good blocks and run the clock. Virgin Valley coach Yori Ludvigson figured if his Bulldogs could do that, they could offset the explosiveness of Sunrise Mountain quarterback Stephen Wright and the rest of the Miners on Friday night.

For the first two minutes, though, it seemed as though the game plan may need to get thrown out in favor of a quicker offensive strategy. The host Miners quickly drove the length of the field to score the game’s first touchdown with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

But Virgin Valley remained true and it paid off ultimately in a 21-14 road victory.

“We knew we had to contain him,” Ludvigson said of Wright. “And the best way to contain him is to run the ball. He can’t score if he’s on the sidelines.”

When it was over, Perkins had run the ball 36 times, caught two passes and even returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown. He finished with 172 yards on the ground and scored all three Bulldog touchdowns (two rushing, one fumble return).

“We all executed,” Perkins said. “It was all the offensive line. Good blocks. That’s all I can say.”

Perkins was playing in just his second game at running back for the Bulldogs. He played the position on junior varsity two years ago, but only played linebacker last fall.

“He’s a special kid,” Ludvigson said. “He’s such a tough, blue-collar worker. We expected big things from him.”

Sunrise Mountain zipped down the field after the opening kickoff in four plays to take a 7-0 lead. Wright, who completed 14 of 18 passes for 165 yards for the Miners, connected on all three of his passing attempts on the drive, then finished things off himself with a 27-yard draw for the game’s first touchdown at 10:21 of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs, though, answered the quick hit with a bludgeoning, 14-play drive capped by Perkins 2-yard plunge with 3:43 left in the quarter. Perkins carried the ball six times for 33 yards on the drive.

And 39 seconds later, Perkins was back in the end zone after Wright fumbled on second down. Perkins picked up the ball and raced the remaining six yards to give Virgin Valley a 14-7 lead with 3:04 left in the first.

“I think it actually was good that they went right down and scored like that,” Ludvigson said. “Our kids stuck to the game plan after that, and we took 10 minutes, used almost the whole quarter, to tie the game.”

Sunrise Mountain tied the game less than a minute into the second quarter on Claude Moore’s 4-yard TD run and the game remained that way until Perkins scored from 2 yards out with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.