High school football: Skyridge pitches 4th shutout in as many games, thrashes Orem

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When you have a defense as good as Skyridge does, chances are pretty good you will end up victorious in the majority of games that you end up playing.

The Orem Tigers were the latest team to experience firsthand just how strong and stout of a defense the Falcons have.

For the fourth straight week to start the season, Skyridge shut out its opponent, defeating Orem 36-0 and remaining undefeated in the process.

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The Skyridge crowd was able to get into the game early on when kicker Joseph Brandt connected on a long 54-yard field goal, making it a 3-0 advantage.

The Falcons defense then sprang to life in a big way with 46 seconds left in the first quarter, when Jace Doman intercepted a pass from Orem quarterback Chase Tuatagaloa and went racing 56 yards into the end zone.

Despite the lead, Skyridge got only 26 total yards of offense in the first half. When you look at a stat like that, it’s easy to think you’re in for a long night. For Skyridge though, it was just another opportunity to show everyone what its defense is made of.

“We don’t have a real special recipe or anything. It’s just get lined up, do your job and play really hard. I love the way our guys are communicating right now and I love their effort by just playing unselfish football,” said Skyridge head coach Jon Lehman.

The offense came to life in the second half led by quarterback McCae Hillstead. The junior decided to take matters into his own hands by keeping the ball, breaking through the Tiger defense and scoring on a 66-yard touchdown run.

“Our motivation going forward is to just keep doing what we’re doing and take what is given to us. I think we need to start out a little faster on offense. If we can do that and the defense continues to cause nightmares for the opposition, I think we’ll be in great shape,” said Hillstead.

Orem came into Friday averaging 42 points per game. With the Falcons holding the Tigers scoreless, it couldn’t be more evident just how special their defense is and what they can achieve.

When asked whether or not the team strives to hold other teams to a goose egg on the scoreboard, Lehman was quick to shut that idea down.

“It’s never a part of our thought process,” he said. “It’s hard to win with the schedule that we have. It’s always hard to get stops, so we just try to keep the focus on one play at a time and if it comes with a 0 at the end, then we’re really happy with that obviously.”