Warriors overcome Dallas Jackals in home opener
HERRIMAN, Utah — The Utah Warriors secured their first win of the season on Saturday, defeating the visiting Dallas Jackals 33-25 at Zions Bank Stadium.
The Warriors got off to a quick start, set a good tone and made the Jackals play catchup for the duration, although coaches and players came away with some mixed emotions regarding the win.
“A win’s a win…but we’ve got to be a little more ruthless than that,” said Warriors coach Greg Cooper. “We’ll take the win. It’s one we needed, but one where I think we should have put them away a little earlier.”
Utah got off to a very fast start courtesy of Paul Lasike scoring a try in the sixth minute off an assist from Connor McLeod. Joel Hodgson connected on the ensuing conversion kick, giving the Warriors an early 7-0 lead.
“It’s just staying direct. That’s what we worked on and it paid off,” Lasike said of the score.
The Jackals responded quickly, however, crossing the try line in the ninth minute to cut the lead to 7-5 after an unsuccessful conversion kick.
Utah then strung together two tries, scored by Caleb Makene and Bailey Wilson respectively, to take a commanding 21-5 lead just after the 28th minute.
Makene’s score was aided tremendously by Joe Mano who broke free on a long run before lateraling the ball to his teammate just short of the try line for the assist. Wilson’s came off of an assist from Mika Kruse, who received a nifty pass from Lasike just five meters out.
Converting on all three conversion kicks was Hodgson, who was on point throughout the match.
The Jackals did manage a try late in the first half, but another unsuccessful conversion kick only cut the deficit to 21-10 in the half.
Just 12 minutes after the half, Lasike again showed his prowess, this time assisting via a kick to a streaking Mano to push the lead to 26-10.
“He gave us an incredible game and I thought he was unstoppable,” Cooper said. “He carried well and he defended well, and when we took him off I thought the reserves played really well, but again, we just can’t let them get back into the game.”
Indeed Utah did allow Dallas back in the game, allowing three tries for the final 33-25 decision that kept both Lasike and Cooper from being too exuberant after the win.
“I think for three quarters we put together a good performance,” Lasike said. “We had some dropped balls and some mistakes, but I felt like we played the way we wanted to play… it was good to get the win.”
Cooper agreed with Lasike’s assessment while being pleased with his team’s overall mentality.
“The boys were confident and we gave them a license to really attack with or without the ball,” Cooper said. “By and large I thought (we were aggressive) other than letting them win close to the (try) line, so that’s something we need to work on.”
With the win Utah improves to 1-1 on the early season and will next travel to take on the Chicago Hounds on March 5.
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