Southern Utah traveled just down the road to Utah Tech for a non-conference matchup Saturday afternoon. The Thunderbirds would battle back and forth but eventually fall to the Trailblazers 48-36.

The Trailblazers started with the ball and built a good head of steam, but the T-bird defense stepped up and made an impressive stop to force Utah Tech to kick a 19-yard field goal to open the scoring just three minutes into the game. The Thunderbirds evened the score finishing a good drive when Micah Pettit hit a field goal from 29 yards out. The Trailblazers fired back though with a 43-yard rush by Quali Conley which set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joey Hobert. After Jake Gerardi pinned Utah Tech deep in their own territory, the Trailblazers took a shot down field which went for a 79-yard touchdown pass. Isaiah Wooden would return the ensuing kickoff 64 yards to the 33-yard line of the Trailblazers to end the first quarter in good field position. 

At the start of the second quarter Justin Miller connected with Marcus Phillips for a 21-yard pass which would set up a 4-yard rushing touchdown for Isaiah Williams. The Thunderbirds forced Utah Tech to punt for the first time in the following drive which would give Miller and the T-birds back the ball at their own 29-yard line. After the drive stalled though Gerardi was called on to try and pin the Trailblazers deep once again which he did, landing the ball on the 8-yard line. The T-Birds would capitalize on the field position, dropping the Trailblazers for the safety when Julian Sanderlin got a sack on Victor Gabalis. This made the score 17-12 and gave the Thunderbirds the ball back. The Thunderbirds took their first lead of the game when Elijah Burns ran the ball in from 5 yards out. The Trailblazers took the lead back on a 54-yard field goal by Conner Brooksby. The Thunderbirds bounced back after another big 75-yard return by Wooden, which would set up a 24-yard field goal by Pettit. With only a few seconds left in the half Utah Tech quarterback Gabalis would find Rickie Johnson for a 5-yard touchdown pass to take a 27-22 lead to the locker room.

The Thunderbirds and Trailblazers traded short drives that covered little ground but the second drive for Utah Tech Started in plus territory. The Trailblazers extended their lead to 34-22 on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Joey Hobert. The Following Southern Utah drive went 80 yards and finished when Miller magically escaped the pocket and scrambled into the endzone for the 5-yard touchdown. Utah Tech answered back immediately however on their next play from scrimmage when Johnson took a short pass 75 yards for the touchdown. 

The Thunderbirds found themselves 12 points down to start the fourth quarter but cut that to 5 after Isaiah Williams punched the ball in from 4 yards out for his second touchdown of the game. Once again, the Trailblazers would answer though going 75 yards in only a few plays to push the lead to 48-36 with just under 10 minutes to go in the game. The Thunderbirds offense would not move the ball much on their next drive and Utah Tech would turn to the running game to try and kill as much clock as possible. Southern Utah would get the ball back with just under two minutes to play but the Thunderbirds would come up short as Utah Tech would hold on for the victory. 

Justin Miller finished the game 23-34 through the air with a total of 273 yards and a rushing touchdown. Isaiah Williams finished with a pair of scores on the ground and Elijah Burns rounded out the scoring with a rushing touchdown. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Trent Whalen had 10 total tackles. Kohner Cullimore who has been solid all year for the T-Birds added 8 tackles as well from the linebacker position. Julian Sanderlin had a pair of sacks in the game to go along with his 6 tackles from the defensive line. 

The Thunderbirds will look to end the losing skid next Saturday at home when they welcome in Lincoln University for Senior Day. That game will kick off at 1:00 PM MT and can be seen on ESPN+ or listen Live on KSUB

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