You can throw just about any ball to Simi and he will definitely come down with it. He is one great player. – Brighton quarterback Drew Jensen, on Simi Fehoko
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — The Brighton football team didn’t have a lot of positives to discuss at halftime, but they took comfort in the most important stat — the score.
“If we’re up 9 to 7, and we’re playing this bad, we really can pick it up, and we can win this game,” said senior quarterback Drew Jensen, after second-ranked Brighton managed a 23-14 victory over fourth-ranked Herriman. “And we did pick it up, especially defensively. It was awesome to see that.”
The game was the epitome of a season-opener with penalties, miscues and multiple turnovers by both teams. In the first quarter alone, the teams combined for 11 penalties and just one first down — a 20-yard scramble by Jensen on a fake punt.
The game was not what anyone expected from two offensively-loaded teams.
“I was a little surprised,” said Brighton head coach Ryan Bullet. “I thought it was going to be the other way around. I thought we’d have trouble stopping each other. It was a defensive (slugfest) right there.”
Brighton’s first possession ended when Herriman’s Noah Vaea ripped the ball from Bengal receiver Dylan Pearmain, eliminating what would have been a 40-yard reception. The second possession ended when Vaea intercepted an errant pass from Jensen — while lying on the ground.
Herriman couldn’t capitalize on either turnover and then the Mustangs struggled with turnovers as well. Herriman had three fumbles in the first half, one of which Brighton recovered.
The most costly, however, came with 2:27 left in the second quarter. That’s when Bengal junior Andrew Covey intercepted a Herriman pass and returned it 52 yards for the game’s first points. Brighton’s extra point was blocked by Herriman, and on the ensuing play, Jake Jutkins returned the kickoff 98 yards to put Herriman on the scoreboard. The extra point by Denver Osborne gave Herriman a 7-6 lead.
Brighton scored with seconds left in the first half after narrowly escaping another interception. Herriman intercepted Jensen, but it was nullified by a personal foul (face mask) on Herriman. That put Ezias Bigelow in the position of kicking a 37-yard field goal, which gave Brighton a 9-7 lead heading into the half.
In the second half, Jensen managed to connect with senior Simi Fehoko on consecutive passes to score Brighton’s second touchdown – a 25-yard pass that Fehoko reeled in despite double coverage in the back of the end zone.
Jensen said he trusts Fehoko completely. Fehoko finished with 120 yards receiving and a touchdown.
“You can throw just about any ball to Simi and he will definitely come down with it,” Jensen said. “He is one great player. There is a reason he has so many offers, and a reason he’s going to Stanford. Not only is he smart on the field, but he’s smart off the field. So you can trust that kid with whatever you need in life. He’s awesome.”
The big plays to Fehoko turned out to be the difference, which is something Bullet has discussed with his players.
"We were hoping for something," Bullet said of taking chances with the big plays. "That’s a good football team right there. …We preach big plays are routine. The exceptional plays are the ones you make. Someone needed to make some kind of exceptional play, and we finally had a couple of kids do it."
Jensen thought he’d made a game-ending mistake in the fourth quarter when he threw an interception to none other than Vaea with about three minutes left in the game.
“I thought I just lost the game right there,” Jensen said. “Their offense was on a roll right there, but our defense really stepped it up. …It was awesome to see.”
The defense held Herriman, and Brighton got the ball back. A penalty gave the Bengals a first down and then Jensen hit a streaking Fehoko on a 75-yard pass play to set up Brighton’s final score — a 10-yard run by Kimball Reece.
Bullet praised Herriman but said his team had to improve in order to keep winning.
“My offensive line got manhandled,” he said. “I’m not real happy with their performance. I am pleasantly surprised that my linebackers played as well as they did. We’re putting some new guys in there, trying to replace some old guys. I was real happy with the defensive performance.”
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