The final whistle has blown on the 2023 regular season of high school football in Utah. Did everyone have a fun trip?
With the playoffs now up and ready to go, we can look back one last time at some of the most thrilling results of Week 10 for our Friday(-ish) Flashback.
American Fork takes the ‘SEC’ crown
The last time American Fork won a region title, 6A wasn’t a thing. Neither was Skyridge, and Lehi was an 0-10 squad barely getting into 5A.
On Friday night, the Cavemen, who have spent several years contending for one, were guaranteed a share of the coveted Region 3 title, their first region title since 2014, with a win over a backpedaling Skyridge team. They took care of business on their own field, handing the Falcons their second straight overtime loss with a game-winning touchdown, 34-27.
From there, it got even better for American Fork. As head coach Aaron Behm tells it, he shook hands with Skyridge’s players having no idea what had happened. Afterward, his 12-year-old son, Caleb, told him on the field that Lehi had upset Pleasant Grove beforehand, and the Cavemen were the outright Region 3 champs.
“It is really a great achievement for our kids to win Region 3,” Behm said. “The teams in this region are so talented, and so well coached. Each week is a battle, and we are very excited to have won the championship.”
Better late than never
On the other end of the football spectrum, while some teams in Week 10 sought to win titles, others just sought to win. Period.
The number of winless teams in the state was whittled down from six to four in the proverbial 11th hour as Riverton and Parowan both escaped with a win just before the playoffs. Riverton managed its way past an admittedly improved Copper Hills team, 35-14, and Parowan got past North Sevier, 28-14, to break a 15-game losing streak.
“The great news about this team is that they have still continued to play for each other and get better each week,” Riverton coach Jim Freeland said. “The biggest problem hasn’t been a diminishing confidence, but that our region is one where you don’t have a week to come up for air. We were really excited to play a very physical Copper Hills team and test ourselves in a different way.”
Both squads will be in the playoffs in their respective classifications. The Silverwolves will contend with Lehi in the first round of the 6A state tournament, and Parowan faces off against Gunnison Valley in 1A.
Green Canyon wins a game of ‘True American’
Despite the reference to “New Girl,” no drinking was involved in this game.
Green Canyon ended its regular season with one of the most peculiarly scheduled games of the season, a home date on Wednesday night with Raymond, Canada.
Yes, we just said “Canada.”
Wolves coach JT Tauliili said the staff had some struggles getting an opponent for Week 10, and a Raymond alum happened to hear about it while attending Utah State University and managing equipment for the Aggies’ football team. That student put Tauliili in contact with Raymond’s athletic director.
“Once we got film on Raymond, we realized they are a talented team, and that we were going to get tested in unique ways,” Tauliili said.
Raymond, located in Alberta, was the No. 4 football team in all of Canada. Even with some Canadian rules still allowed by the Wolves’ staff, the Wolves took care of business in a big way, beating Raymond, 35-0.
“I’m sure it was more of an adjustment for them to have to play by our rules, I thought coach Cam Johnson did an excellent job preparing our defense to play a team with three guys in motion at once and attacking the line of scrimmage.”
Tauliili was grateful just to have a game in the slot so the Wolves didn’t have to go two weeks without a contest.
West wins the ultimate playoff primer
Not many games served as eloquently as a tournament prequel than West’s matchup with Brighton on Wednesday night. The Panthers, a new face in 5A this season, took on one of the most consistently powerful teams in the classification with the Region 6 title on the line.
Despite an early deficit where Brighton took a 14-0 lead and led 21-7 at halftime, West owned the second half, outscoring the Bengals, 24-3, and claimed its fourth-straight region title in a 31-24 win. Senior running back Kelvin Malepeai ran for 179 yards on 28 carries and notched his 10th TD of the season to seal the deal for the Panthers in the fourth quarter with just over a minute remaining.
“I’m just really proud of our guys fighting back in the second half against a well-coached Brighton team,” West coach Olosaa Solovi said. “Overall, we have a lot to improve, but we’re hoping we can use this momentum going into the playoffs.”
Both the Bengals and the Panthers have a first-round bye in the 5A state tournament.
Judge Memorial outlasts an offensive firestorm
If you’re American Leadership Academy, you’d probably think that seven touchdowns against a team with a single win that hasn’t gone over 26 points this season would be more than enough.
Apparently it wasn’t. And the jury might be out on whether the skill positions at Judge Memorial switched bodies with BYU Cougars somehow for a week. At the same time that BYU stunk it up against TCU on Saturday, the Bulldogs rained fire on ALA’s defense for four quarters en route to a blinding 67-49 win, setting Judge’s program record in single-game scoring and notching a spot in the UHSAA records for one of the 25 highest-scoring games in Utah history.
Total offense on the night between the two teams? Only 1,187 yards and 17 TDs. Not a bad way for the Bulldogs to send off their seniors.
Judge Memorial went off for 408 rushing yards as Tyrese Boyce and Thomas Gutierrez combined for 325 yards and six TDs.
“Thursday night was full of excitement and big plays,” Judge Memorial coach Will Hawes said. “It was great to see our seniors take advantage of their night in such fashion. A few records were set, and things really came together for our offense. I’m excited for our playoff game.”
Judge Memorial has all the momentum in the world going into a home playoff game against Grand County next Friday.
Top upsets of Week 10
Team ratings are calculated each week by Noland Parry’s Power Guide. Based on those ratings, here are the top 5 upsets of Week 10, with rating differentials showing in parentheses:
- South Sevier over Grand County (16.8) — Grand County wins, 27-26.
- North Sevier over Parowan (10.4) — Parowan wins, 28-14.
- Syracuse over Davis (10.2) — Davis wins, 22-10.
- Murray over Cottonwood (8.6) — Cottonwood wins, 32-16.
- Grantsville over Juan Diego (8.6) — Juan Diego wins in OT, 32-31.