The East-Bingham rivalry provided two outstanding finishes last year, but it was nothing compared to the doozy they played on Friday night.
Trailing 21-7 late in the third quarter, Bingham rallied for the 29-28 overtime on a gutsy two-point conversion call. (Box Score)
East scored first in overtime, and when Bingham answered with its own touchdown, coach Dave Peck was prepared to kick the extra point. That all changed when East was called offiside on the PAT try.
“I asked Josh Johnson our O-coordinator if he had a play that he really felt good about and he said ‘yes,’ so I told him to go for it,” said Peck.
It worked, barely though, as Josh Woolf caught the two-point conversion try right on the goal line.
Bingham-East final play in overtime. #UTHSFB pic.twitter.com/jcJr8j4cRn
— Utah Sports Action (@UTSportsAction1) September 26, 2020
Troy Mehn finished the game with two passing TDs and the successful two-point conversion pass to clinch the win, and most likely the Region 3 title assuming Bingham wins out as it should.
“There was a point in this game that I wondered if our players were going to roll over and quit or step up and give us a chance. They decided to step up and compete which gave us a chance,” Peck told the Deseret News after the game.
Up north in an equally intense rivalry, Weber bounced back from last week’s extremely disappointing loss to Layton with a great 20-17 win over Fremont. (Box Score)
“I am extremely proud of our team. Last week was disappointing. I am proud of how they moved forward and prepared for Fremont, who is a very good football team. We had to battle and work through some adversity but they stay positive and believed in each other,” said Weber coach Jayson Anderson.
Jake to Cannon and Weber is up 7-0 #BeAWarrior pic.twitter.com/AWKptEITae
— Weber (@WeberPrincipal) September 26, 2020
Weber trailed 10-7 at the half, but went ahead 14-10 late in the third quarter on a 15-yard TD run from Johnny McKinney. Fremont answered right back with an early touchdown in the fourth quarter, to retake the 17-14 lead.
McKinney came up big one more time with an 8-yard TD run with 5:17 remaining, and then Weber got the defensive stops it needed to seal the win.
“We consistently talk about how we have to prepare for opportunities and then take advantage of those opportunities when they arise. We had some guys step up and make some big plays in crucial moments of the game. Nolan Barrong came up with the huge interception that helped swing momentum and Johnny McKinney had some big runs late that helped us seal the game,” said Anderson.
“Collectively it was a great team win where everyone focused on their job and trusted the guy next to them. I proud of our kids and I’m happy for them.”
The night before on the Thursday night game of the week, Corner Canyon and Lone Peak tangled in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2.
Lone Peak jumped out early, but Corner Canyon rallied and then pulled away in the second half for the 35-25 win — its 33rd straight win as a program. (Box Score)
The outcome might’ve been completely different though had it not been for one play with 21 seconds left in the first quarter. Lone Peak came out on fire, was leading 13-0 and had Corner Canyon facing a third and 10 from its own 20.
Another stop, and the Chargers might’ve found themselves down three touchdowns. Instead, Jaxson Dart evaded a blitz and connected with Cody Hagen on an 80-yard TD pass.
Here comes @CCHSFOOTBALL_
— Dave Fox (@Davefox2) September 25, 2020
Jaxson Dart 80 yards to Hagen. We got a good one at @LPHSKnights @AFCU #TNL live now on KJZZ-TV & streamed at https://t.co/jAQeFMlDDt pic.twitter.com/NC9kXUOg8f
“We knew what (Lone Peak) is, especially upfront. They’re good,” Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar told the Deseret News after the game. “... So it was good for us to have to adjust. I’d like to see us adjust faster than what we did, but we (got there).”
Everything changed after that play.
Dart finished the game passing for 329 yards and four touchdowns, with three of those TDs going to Cody Hagen who finished with 175 yards.
Nobody would be surprised to see these two heavyweights meet again in the playoffs.
While Corner Canyon was busy improving to 2-0 in Region 4 on Thursday, Skyridge matched it on Friday night 35-7 smashing of Pleasant Grove. (Box Score)
McCae Hillstead passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another, while James Palmer caught both of Hillstead’s TD and rushed for his own score — all in the first half as Skyridge led 35-0 at the break.
“We started fast with a couple nice special teams plays and three first half takeaways. Our offensive line did a great job of opening up space for our run game and giving time for McCae to go through his progressions. Jeter Fenton ran the ball well and McCae and James Palmer connected on some big plays,” said Skyridge coach Jon Lehman. “Our defensive line and linebackers did a great job of playing the run and pressuring the QB and Smith Snowden was great in coverage with two first half interceptions and a touchdown.”
Snowden’s 37 pick-six gave Skyridge the 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and there was simply no recovering from there for now struggling Pleasant Grove.
I think we are catching onto Skyridge's game plan...
— Game Night Live Rewind (@GNLRewind) September 26, 2020
Once in the lead, just don't let the other team throw the ball down the field. When you have Smith Snowden the Falcons have little to worry about. He shut down back to back drives!@skyridgefb @skyridgefalcons @SnowdenSmith pic.twitter.com/IXLBPJW5gr
Two less-heralded teams in 6A earned solid wins on Friday night, but win or lose they were just thrilled to be playing.
Earlier this week by Riverton and Clearfield learned that their scheduled region opponents this week had cases of COVID-19 on the team and had to shut things down for 14 days.
Clearfield found about its canceling on Monday, and found a quick replacement game against 5A’s Farmington — which also had its game canceled because of COVID-19.
Riverton, meanwhile, found out about its cancellation on Thursday morning at 7 a.m., but within an hour it had scheduled a game with Olympus which also had a game fall through because of COVID-19 the night before.
For both Riverton and Clearfield, they took advantage of the situation and prevailed.
Riverton built a 21-7 lead in the first half, watched Olympus come back and tie the game on a Jackson Bennee 75-yard pick-six in the third quarter, but then regrouped with Wyatt Miller kicking the game-winning field goal with 1:37 remaining for the 24-21 win. (Box Score)
“Awesome game. Olympus is a well-coached, tough team. We found out Copper Hills was quarantined at 7 a.m. Thursday and had 24 hours to prepare for a different opponent. The players had a great attitude about learning their schemes on the fly,” said Riverton coach Jody Morgan. “Our defense was great, settled down after some big plays and had big stops. Josh Jacobson was great on offense keeping drives alive with some crucial runs and catches. Really proud of my players.”
Like Riverton, Clearfield also won its game with a fourth quarter field goal.
Josh Loufiso’s 25-yard field goal with 7:49 remaining proved to be the game winner for the Falcons as they edged Farmington, 17-14. (Box Score)
Farmington’s Creyton Jones had tied the game midway through the third quarter, but Clearfield never relinquished momentum for its second straight win.
“It was a strange week but once you hit the field it’s just another game. We were just happy to be playing. Both teams played hard. Our defense did a real good job causing turnovers, We had four. Our offense ran the ball pretty well. It was a back-and-forth game and we made the plays at the end of the game that allowed us to come up with the victory,” said Clearfield coach Andre Dyson.
In Region 1 and 2, the two region front runners took care of business as they inched closer to the region title.
In Region 2, Kearns jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a first of TD passes from Iosefa Toia’ivao to Keishaun Dudley, and and played great defense the rest of the way for the 35-21 victory. (Box Score)
With the win, Kearns improved to 3-0 in Region 2 and the only potential hurdle remaining is a Week 9 game against West which sits at 3-1 in region play.
Up in Region 1, Roy backed up its thrilling win over Davis last week with an easy 50-31 win over Northridge. (Box Score)
Roy did almost all of its damage on the ground as it only passed for 44 yards, but rushed for 351 yards. Parker Kingston, Izzy Gordon and Cade Harris all rushed for two scores in the win.
The Royals now sit at 5-0 in Region 1, with Clearfield still on the schedule in Week 8 and Weber in Week 9.