High school football: Corner Canyon inches closer to history with 38-23 win over Skyridge

Jett Meine planted his foot and charged to the sideline, beating the single coverage in front of him as his quarterback spotted him down the field and let it fly.

Meine owned the sideline and got open for two long touchdown catches to best one of the premier defenses in the state and register Corner Canyon’s 47^th consecutive win, 38-23, over Skyridge.

“We don’t face a lot of guys in Utah that press, so when we get that press coverage with a smaller guy that was on me, that’s a lot of one-on-one stuff,” Meine said. “I know with my size and speed, I can beat them vertically.”

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Corner Canyon quarterback Devin Brown found Meine with the pinpoint 80-yard lofted score to open the Chargers’ advantage 7-0 with 8:24 left in the first quarter.

Skyridge passer McCae Hillstead responded immediately to tie it up with a dual threat mix of running and throwing before splitting two defenders to find Smith Snowden in the end zone for a 41-yard scoring toss at the 3:14 mark in the first quarter.

Skyridge kicker Joseph Brand then squared up and launched a 54-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 10-7 edge with 40 seconds left in the first quarter.

With Corner Canyon’s regularly stellar offense slightly misfiring while Skyridge blanketed go-to receiver Cody Hagen, Brown softened up the coverage with two short runs before hitting Meine in stride again on a sideline tightrope for a 68-yard score to make it 14-10 with 9:21 left in the first half.

“Cody’s awesome, but when that happens, I’m confident with my skills that I can go out and put on a show as well,” Meine said.

Corner Canyon’s defense capitalized on Skyridge’s pressing to keep up with the Chargers’ offense, causing five turnovers on downs on the night, including a crucial Hillstead throwaway on fourth down with under two minutes left in the first half.

Brown chewed up the ensuing short field position, finding three different receivers before Dylan Carlson punched in a 6-yard rushing score for a 21-10 halftime lead.

After the break, Skyridge stalled a 14-play drive with a turnover on downs, leading to Brown’s third scoring throw of the contest on a 23-yard screen pass to Tre Kofe and a 28-10 advantage with 4:51 in the third quarter.

“I was pretty happy with how he played the whole game under pressure,” Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar said of Brown. “He handled that really well and made some big time throws.” 

Hillstead found another gear and struck back on the ensuing drive, hitting Connor McAllister for a 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown to get within two scores at 28-17.

Both offenses bogged down until Brown beat single press coverage once again for his fourth and final touchdown with a bullet slant route pass to Blaze DeGracie. DeGracie took the ball and rumbled for a 42-yard score to make it 35-17 with 7:23 left in the game.

Corner Canyon quickly added a 34-yard field goal after a Hillstead interception before Brown made his only obvious throwing error of the night that Snowden turned into a 75-yard pick-6 for Skyridge’s last gasp and a 38-23 final score.

Kjar insists that the Chargers aren’t discussing the potential to make state winning streak history, but believes there’s still another level of offensive execution for Corner Canyon to reach, a sobering thought for the rest of the teams in the state.

“They have more in them, I know they do. I see it with them in practice,” Kjar said. “They can be better, for sure.”