DRAPER — It’s ironic that wide receiver Noah Kjar has been such an integral part of Corner Canyon’s offense the past two years because in the beginning, all he was allowed to do was the snap the ball.
His dad, Eric Kjar, knew how it would look playing his freshman son in his debut season taking over as Corner Canyon’s head coach. Like any father coaching his son, Kjar was nervous about finding the right balance and didn’t want to come across as playing favorites.
So at the Ute Shoot two summers ago, Corner Canyon’s first 7-on-7 camp that month, all incoming freshman Noah Kjar was asked to do was kneel by the ball and snap it to QB Zach Wilson.
Considering his understanding of his dad’s offense, which he’d grown up watching while Eric Kjar was the head coach at Jordan High for the eight years prior, Noah Kjar could’ve easily made larger contributions at the Ute Shoot that day.
His opportunities would have to wait, but they actually came much quicker than anyone anticipated.
Corner Canyon’s receiving core suffered a couple of injuries during the summer of 2017, while another projected contributor moved away. It wasn’t long until Noah Kjar started getting reps in practice, and started moving up the depth chart.
Coach Kjar was still nervous about playing his freshman son, but that’s when he leaned on his coaching staff for help.
“I have assistants that have been with me for a long time, and I asked them what they think and they were like he definitely needs to play if we want a shot,” said Eric Kjar.
When the season opener rolled around, Noah Kjar made a strong contribution with five catches for 70 yards. The following week he finished with 119 yards and a touchdown and in Week 3 he had his best game of the season with 121 yards and two scores.
Corner Canyon teacher and former basketball coach, Tony Cannon, joked with Noah Kjar during the early part of that season by saying ‘you’re taking a lot of pressure off your dad.’
“And it was true, cause he went out and performed well,” said Eric Kjar.
He hasn’t slowed down since.
Noah Kjar finished his freshman season with 850 yards and five touchdowns, and this year that production has increased to 897 yards and nine TDs. He’s quickly following in the footsteps of former Jordan all-state wide receiver Spencer Curtis, who was always Noah's favorite player.
“Last year being a freshman I had no expectations of starting and then when the opportunity came I just jumped into it. This year has been a different approach in the offseason. I wanted to be better than I was last year and I’ve been able to focus on it,” said Noah Kjar.
He got stronger this past offseason and it’s been much tougher for defensive backs to knock him off his routes, which combined with his speed and quickness has made him a big threat for the Chargers.
A big part of Noah Kjar’s success in the slot can be attributed to lining up next to big-play receiver John Mitchell, who’s racked up 1,033 yards this year and is averaging a ridiculous 25.2 yards per catch.
“He and John John, teams will take one away and the other one will have a big game or vice versa. It’s kind of been back and forth, and that helps both of them, it’s not just one guy a team can lock onto,” said Eric Kjar, who added that junior QB Cole Hagen has done a really good job spreading the ball around.
Coach Kjar tries his hardest not to talk football with his oldest son at home but said sometimes that’s unavoidable because he said his son is very coachable and frequently asks questions.
“If he asks, I’ll talk to him about football but if he doesn’t ask I’ll pretty much leave him alone away from practice,” said Coach Kjar.
While father tries to coach Corner Canyon to its first title in school history this Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium against Skyridge, the son will get one more opportunity to add to his already productive sophomore season.