SNOW BURIES GRAND RAPIDS
ON FINAL DRIVE
by Maggie Thach
Salt Lake Tribune

That Drive Was A Quarterback's Dream, said Mecham

Snow College quarterback Quinn Mecham forgot about how cold his hands were. He put his less-than-stellar first half performance out of his mind and didn't let any doubt linger in his head.

With two minutes and 41 seconds left in the game against Grand Rapids Community College and trailing by three points, Mecham was nothing but confident.

That confidence allowed Mecham to engineer an eight-play, 94-yard drive to lift the Badgers to a 41-37 win over Grand Rapids in the sixth annual Top of the Mountains Bowl at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.

"That drive was a quarterback's dream," said Mecham, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 352 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. "This is the best team we've faced all year."

The Raiders came into the game ranked the No. 3 team in the country and was 9-1 -- their one loss was a forfeit for using an ineligible player. Grand Rapids has one of the top defenses, giving up just 273 yards a contest but Snow College was able to gain 481 yards on the Raiders.

It was an offensively explosive game, with the lead changing hands eight times. The Raiders found success with their fade route and the Badgers had a hard time stopping receiver Demonte Collins, who had 127 yards on 10 receptions, including three for a touchdown.

"The biggest adjustment we had to make was just mentally," said defensive back Preston Hadley. "Our coaches challenged us at halftime and we rose to the occasion."

The Badgers trailed 18-13 at halftime and even though Snow College had the edge in the third quarter, two straight touchdowns in the fourth gave Grand Rapids a 37-34 lead. The Raiders had a chance to extend their lead to four but Jose Diaz' extra point attempt was blocked. It was his fourth missed attempt of the game.

That set up Snow College's final drive. Mecham completed two big passes -- a 16-yarder to Tyson Church and one to Phil Hinson for 18-yards -- and had a 22-yard run himself in that drive. When the Badgers got to the nine-yard line, Church took over. He received a short pass from Mecham, dodged what was surely a tackle for Grand Rapids and took a big hit. Still, he managed to get in the end zone with a 42.6 seconds left.

The victory ends a two-year drought in the Top of the Mountain bowl game for Snow College.

"These sophomores were feeling down after our loss to [Arizona] Western and this was big for them," Snow College coach Steve Coburn said. "This is a program win for us."