We came back and kept fighting. – Kearns head coach Matt Rickards
WEST VALLEY CITY — Matt Rickards knew there would be moments during the football season that would look bleak and feel discouraging. So the Kearns High head coach gave his players an experience in the summer that would put any setback on a football field in perspective.
“We take them to Camp Williams and put them through a Navy Seal grinder for 12 hours straight,” Rickards said after the Cougars came back from a 21-7 first quarter deficit to beat Hunter 52-36. “These guys will never quit. … If they can go through that in the offseason, there is no quitting.”
The first half looked like the game would be something of an offensive shootout as each quarterback took turns leading his team into the end zone. The game was tied 28-28 heading into halftime, but that’s when Kearns made some adjustments that turned the game in its favor.
“We thought we could challenge them and play a lot of man coverage and press them," Rickards said. "Their quarterback is a good player, and they have some good receivers. But that quarterback (sophomore Deasean Cash) is a heck of a player, and so he just made plays and we didn’t.”
The defensive changes were both scheme and attitude.
“The guys really stepped up in the second half, especially the defense,” Rickards said. “We shut them out until that last score when we had our subs in.”
Less than a minute into the third quarter, running back Sese Felila score on a 12-yard run, which came after a muffed punt by Hunter gave the Cougars the football at the 25-yard line.
Midway through the third quarter, Marcus Solomona snagged the first of his two interceptions in the game, which led to a 16-yard field goal by Eric Hickenlooper. The senior Solomona snagged a second interception and ran it back 41 yards for the Cougars’ final touchdown of the game at 7:48 in the fourth quarter.
“That was part of the adjustment we made,” Rickards said of Solomona’s interceptions. “Putting him in that position, he made it count. He did a great job of reading the quarterback.”
There were a number of standouts on the Cougar offense, starting with senior running back Sese Filila, who finished with a jaw-dropping performance. He rushed for 133 yards on 28 carries and scored five touchdowns.
“He’s just a workhorse,” Rickards said. “That kid is unbelievable. He’s one of the toughest players I know, and one of the most humble people I know.”
Senior quarterback Isaac Matua played an outstanding game with 231 passing yards and 93 rushing yards.
The Wolverines, led by sophomore Deasean Cash, finished with 355 yards passing. In the second half, the Cougars held the Wolverines to 117 passing yards. They also held Hunter to 95 rushing yards.
Kearns scored first on a 3-yard run by Felila, but Hunter answered with a 7-yard run by Cash.
The Cougar defense held Hunter scoreless until the Wolverines marched down the field with 2:23 left in the game and scored on a Chase Walker 7-yard run. A two-point conversion was caught by Wayne Tahi, making the final score 52-36 in Kearns’ favor.
“They battled back,” Rickards said. “We came back and kept fighting.”