The Carbon Dinos suffered a 40-15 loss to the Manti Templars in the 2018 season opener Friday night at Carbon High School.

Trailing 19-7 at the end of the first half, Carbon had no answer for the highly efficient Manti passing attack throughout the second half. The Templars used a 21-0 second half run to the put the game on ice and cruise to a win.

“The hardest part is learning how to win, and we have to learn how to do that,” said head coach Josh Huntsman. “We played a tough first half and let it get away in the second half. Once we learn to put a full game together we will be just fine.”

Trailing 12-0 in the second quarter the Dinos put together an efficient drive that ended with a Collin Lewis one-yard touchdown run. Connor Fausett converted the extra point to bring Carbon within five points.

Down 40-7 in the final minute of regulation, Carbon quarterback Noah Jones found Jaylon Dennis over the top of the Manti secondary for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

Manti quarterback Kyle King delivered a dominating offensive performance, throwing four touchdowns to three different receivers. The highly accurate passing attack gave Carbon fits throughout the contest.

“These kids are a better football team than a 40-15 loss,” said Huntsman. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and see what we can fix and have these kids ready to play Payson on Friday.”

With the first of four non-region tilts in the book, the Dinos will travel on the road Friday to meet 4A Payson. Live coverage of the contest will begin on KRPX 95.3 The Peak at 6:30 p.m., followed by kick-off at 7:00.