BY SCOTT BELL
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
OREM -- So this is what PIFL football is supposed to be like.
The Utah Catzz finally delivered everything the league had advertised Saturday night in a 52-50 victory over the Honolulu Hurricanes before 2,977 fans at the McKay Events Center.
The Catzz scored early and often and Honolulu matched them touchdown bomb for touchdown bomb. By the end of the evening -- after both teams' defenses had been absolutely pulverized -- the Catzz eked out a win by stopping a Honolulu two-point try with 44.1 seconds to play.
"The biggest thing is that our guys have really come together,'' Catzz quarterback Joe Borich said. "We just decided to go out, get the crowd into it and have fun. If we have fans or not, we're going to put on a show like we did tonight.''
It was the Catzz's first victory on a football field since winning their opening two games. In between six losses, they picked up one win by forfeit.
The Catzz made it clear from the beginning that their offense wasn't going to be overshadowed by the pre-game fireworks. On their second play, Borich hit ex-Ute Greg Hooks for a 28-yard touchdown. After Derek Beatty came up with an interception, Borich connected with Terrance Keehan, another ex-Ute, for a 45-yard score.
"We decided we were going to pin our ears back and go deep,'' offensive coordinator Lee Leslie said. "We felt we could beat them, and we wanted to excite the crowd like we did earlier this year.''
But Honolulu was game, a game of "Can you top this?'' was soon underway. The Catzz never trailed, but a nine-yard touchdown run by Honolulu's Falinko Vitale as the third quarter ended made it 38-all.
Utah's Pokey Eckford, who finished with 57 rushing yards on 11 carries, ran it in from 26 yards out to give the Catzz a 52-38 lead with 5:43 to play.
But Honolulu came storming back, and quarterback Mike Tillis' amazing 19-yard touchdown pass on the run to Vitale pulled the Hurricanes within 52-50 with 44.1 seconds remaining.
On the attempt for two, Utah's Mike Hudson stuffed Mike Wolfe behind the line of scrimmage to seal the win for the Catzz.
"You saw it at the end,'' Leslie said. "We haven't had it like that for awhile. The fans were into it. They were going wild.''
Borich went 8-for-18 for 134 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Catzz netted 231 yards while Honolulu had 262. Former BYU receiver Micah Matsuzaki had four receptions for 35 yards and two touchdowns for the Hurricanes.
"We're in a position where we hold destiny in our own hands,'' Borich said. "If we win the rest of our games, we can make the playoffs.''
Honolulu 8 16 14 12 50 Utah 20 10 8 14 52 First Quarter UT-Greg Hooks pass from Joe Borich, Doug Beach PAT 7-0 UT-Terrance Keehan 45 yd pass from Borich, Beach PAT 14-0 Hon-Micah Matsuzaki pass from Mike Tillis, Falinko Vitale run 14-8 UT-Pokey Ecford run, Borich run failed 20-8 Second Quarter UT-Beach 51 yd field goal 23-8 Hon-Vitale run, Tillis 2 pt run 23-16 UT-Eckford pass from Borich, Beach PAT 30-16 Hon-Matsuzaki run, Vitale run 30-22 Third Quarter UT-Beach 19 field goal 32-24 Hon-Tillis pass to Matsuzaki, Vitale run 32-32 UT-Eckford run, Beach PAT failed 38-32 Hon-Matsuzaki run, 2 pt run failed 38-38 Fourth Quarter UT-Derek Black run, PAT failed 44-38 UT-Eckford run, Ecford 2pt run 52-38 Hon-Sheldon Coen 45 yd pass from Tillis, Vitale run failed 52-44 Hon-Vitale pass from Tillis, Vitale run failed 52-50 Team Stats Utah Honolulu First Downs 15 19 Rushing 9 5 Passing 5 14 Penalty 1 0 Rushing Attempts 18 19 Yards Rushing 113 93 Net Passing Yards 134 188 Passes Attempted 18 29 Passes Completed 8 16 Had Intercepted 0 3 Total Offensive Plays 64 70 Total Net Yards 231 262 Fumbles: Number-Lost 3-1 1-1 Penalties: Number-Lost 4-27 8-44 Missed Field Goal Returns 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 5-108 9-121 3rd Down Conversions 5-8 5-8 4th Down Conversions 0-0 2-5 Sacks by: Number-Yards 1-5 2-17 Interception Returns: 3-5 0-0 Possesion Time NA NA Fumble Returns 1-0 1-2 Individual Stats Rushing-U-Eckford 11-57-3, Black 6-36-1, Borich 2-6, Keehan 1-3, #2 1-0; H-Darren Bullock 1-2, Vitale 12-55-1, Tillis 4-24, Mike Miyashiro 2-7, Matsuzaki 1-3 Receiving-U-Hooks 4-57-1, Keehan 2-57-1, Eckford 1-12-1, Black 1-8; Hon-Vitale 7-90-1, Matsuzaki 4-35-2, Coen 3-57-1, Miyashiro 2-6-1 Passing-U-Borich 8-18-134-3-0; H-Tillis 16-28-188-5-2, Mike Nua 0-1-0-0-1 Field Goals-U-Beach 2-3 made 51, 19 missed 50; H-None PATS-U-Beach 3-4, H-None Kickoff Returns-U-Eckford 3-67, Junior Tagaloa 2-41; H-Miyashiro 3-51, Vitale 2-29, Matsuzaki 1-23, Bullock 1-11, Sasa'e Paogofie 1-9, #6 1-(-2) Missed Field Goal Returns-L-Lewis 1-28; G-Garland 1-7 Interceptions-U-Derek Beatty 1-5, Korey Alexander 1-15, Nick McDaniel 1-16 Tackles-U-Tupe 8, Jackson 4, McDaniel 13, Alexander 7, Fonoti 4, Hudson 14, Stewart 5, Black 1, Jones 3, Tagaloa 9, Beatty 3; H-Wolfe 10, Matsuzaki 3, #41 2, Vitale 2, Bullock 1, Odom 5, Paogafie 3, Jardine 9, Ramos 3, Cockett 4, Kanae 4, Skeen 5 Sacks-U-Tagaloa 1.5, Fonoti .5; H-Cockett 1 Fumble Recovery U-Mosely 1-0; H-Jardine 1-2 Attendance: 2,977
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