OGDEN – Fairly or unfairly, quarterbacks shoulder the majority of the blame when things aren’t going well on the football field.

South Hamilton signal caller Blake Barquist has dealt with the ups and downs of playing the position over the past two seasons. And through it all, he’s kept his poise while he waited for that breakout performance.

And it came here Friday night.

Barquist had his most accurate effort, as he completed 11 of 15 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns to help South Hamilton dispose of Class 1A District 6 opponent Ogden, 42-21, and end a three-game losing streak.

The senior completed passes to five different receivers, three of them walking off the field with touchdown grabs. And considering the depth issues in the backfield the Hawks (2-5, 2-3) have dealt with due to injuries, Barquist’s showing couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Blake had a great game and it wasn’t by total surprise either,” South Hamilton head coach Corey Klemp said. “We see that in Blake and it just kind of all came together for him. He got some great time from the line, he made some great throws and then the receivers made some great catches.”

Klemp called Friday the beginning of the team’s third season – pockets of three-game stints that he and his assistant coaches split the season into. The second season was miserable with losses to a pair of top-10 ranked teams (Van Meter and Madrid) and another (Panorama) that is certainly good enough to crack the rankings as well. South Hamilton was outscored 153-17 during that stretch, but the players were able to forget the past and focus on the present against the Bulldogs.

“It was just a great deal for the kids,” Klemp said. “For them to come back mentally strong after the Madrid deal (a 69-0 loss) where we were just kind of depleted … it’s a total tribute to the group of kids they are. I couldn’t be prouder of them and happier for them to see them get that moment.”

Starting in the backfield for the second straight week, Grant Evans chugged for 100 yards rushing and a touchdown on 21 carries. Logan Klemp returned from injury to rush for 58 yards and a touchdown and he also made three catches that covered 60 yards and included one TD.

Evans was a longtime starter at offensive guard for the Hawks prior to his move, but Corey Klemp says it’s not as crazy as it sounds.

“Grant has been a huge spark for sure,” he said. “Grant’s as athletic a guard as you’ll find, so that move isn’t as crazy as it seems probably to an outsider. When we have that single-back set and spread (the defense) out, he can punish guys.”

Evans’ scoring run covered 3 yards late in the first quarter to put South Hamilton in front 14-0. Colton Coy snared an 8-yard touchdown pass two minutes earlier to aid the early edge.

Ogden (1-6, 0-5) cut the deficit in half on a 2-yard touchdown run by freshman quarterback Sam Christensen with 2:30 left in the opening period, but South Hamilton quickly regained the momentum on an 85-yard kickoff return to the house by Coy.

“The kick return by Colton was huge and that seemed like it turned the tide completely,” Corey Klemp said. “We were in control from that point on.”

South Hamilton went into the intermission in front 28-14 following a 26-yard scoring toss from Barquist to Logan Klemp late in the second quarter.

The Hawks extended the cushion to 35-14 on a Logan Klemp 1-yard push across the goal line in the third quarter and then padded it again on a 9-yard TD pass from Barquist to Jared Ullestad with 11:16 remaining in the contest.

Ogden scored in the last minute to make the final score somewhat respectable.

Coy added 53 yards receiving on four catches. South Hamilton compiled 326 yards of total offense, 176 of those coming on the ground.

Defensively, Logan Klemp packed on a game-high 61?2 tackles. Ullestad, Jacob Martin and Marco Balderas all made five stops and, in all, 17 different players threw their helmet in to help stop the Bulldogs.

“I could name 10 or 15 guys that played really well,” Corey Klemp said. “These guys are starting to believe what could be. For our seniors, that’s there thing to go out on and for the juniors on down it’s hopefully the launching pad for the rest of this year and for future years.”

South Hamilton will have another golden opportunity to notch a win this Friday night when it welcomes West Central Valley (2-5, 1-4) to Taylor Field for Senior Night.