SALT LAKE CITY — For the most part in both the 3A and 2A regions, favorites won as the Utah high school football season entered the second week of play.
In the closest game of the evening in either classification, South Summit came from behind for a 12-10 victory over North Summit (box score). The Braves put up 10 points in the first quarter with a touchdown from Kandon Mosher and a field goal from Carsen McKnight, but the Wildcats would cut the lead to four after a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Caleby Thompson. The defining score came with five minutes left in the fourth quarter as Brice Clegg scooped up a fumble and took it 44 yards to the house to give South Summit the lead.
“Anytime North Summit and South Summit play, it’s a huge rivalry game and anything can happen. Tonight the boys played awesome,” South Summit head coach Mike Grajek said.
Watch replay: South Summit 12, North Summit 10
The win was especially impressive given the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, Payton Sanderson, was injured.
“After losing our senior quarterback last week they did great. We have things to work on but I couldn’t be happier for them. They will remember this game forever. Our defense did awesome, they really responded to the challenge time after time and never gave up,” Grajek said.
On a night where most of the top teams in 3A prevailed, No. 1-ranked Morgan fell in its first game of the season, losing 20-14 to 4A Bear River (box score). The Bears scored the first 20 points of the game and despite two defensive scores in the fourth quarter — an interception return from Jimmy Savage and a fumble recovery by Levi Millward — the Trojans couldn’t complete the comeback.
Watch replay: Bear River 20, Morgan 14
Juab, behind 13-7 at halftime, rallied around Mason Wohlforth, who was injured right before halftime. Inspired, the Wasps pulled off a come-from-behind win to improve to 2-0 on the season in a 30-19 victory over Cedar City (box score). In the second half, Juab outscored the Reds 23-6. The Wasps got contributions from everyone on the field — Grant Orme, Bodee Blackett, Ryker Richards, Dawson Olsen and Trey Lund all scored, with Blackett’s contribution coming on a 99-yard kick return touchdown.
“The kids played hard for an injured teammate that got hurt right at the end of half. We put together a good second half,” Juab head coach Mike Bowring said.
Watch replay: Juab 30, Cedar City 19
Summit Academy improved to 2-0 behind a great performance by Joe Garlick in a 49-28 win against San Juan (box score). The Bears broke open a 14-all game after the first quarter by scoring 35 of the next 49 points.
Garlick was clicking, throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers — Hagan Walker, Jaxson Case, Koa Sylvester and Titan Kilgore. Case added two rushing touchdowns, including a 95-yarder, and Kaden Rapae scored one. Gabe Wilbur had an interception return for a touchdown.
Watch replay: Summit Academy 49, San Juan 28
Garlick was throwing bombs, with a 92-yard touchdown pass and a 75-yard touchdown pass in the contest.
“Joe Garlick did a great job of getting the ball to multiple receivers tonight. He had four different touchdowns to four different receivers and I think that was a notable key to the game,” Summit Academy head coach Les Hamilton said. “I think we had either three or four plays of over 80 yards in tonight’s game. That’s pretty amazing.”
North Sanpete remained undefeated with a 38-6 win over Emery (box score). The points piled up early for the Hawks, scoring all 38 before halftime. North Sanpete’s defense was stout, allowing just a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Landon Bowles had a nice night, throwing three touchdowns — two to Cole Mickel and one to Brady Jacobson. Trevin Morley and Laramie Roberts had rushing touchdowns in the win.
“Our goal coming into this game was to start fast and set the tone early. I thought we did a really good job at reacting defensively and executing offensively. We have some great special teams players this year that keep making big plays for us,” North Sanpete head coach Rhett Bird said.
After going down 7-0 early in the first quarter, Richfield responded with vengeance, scoring the next four touchdowns en route to a 34-21 win over North Sevier to boost its record to 2-0 (box score). Gavin Brown was phenomenal, throwing four touchdowns, two each to Jake Hyatt and Max Robinson, including an 87-yarder to Robinson. Brown added another rushing touchdown, meaning he was involved in every score for the Wildcats.
“North Sevier came out swinging and really tested our fundamentals. It was a dogfight the whole way. We won because we had the ball more and were able to capitalize on good field position,” Richfield head coach Ryan Shaddix said.
In 2A action, four of the Deseret News’ top five 2A teams earned victories to improve to 2-0, with the exception being North Summit’s loss to South Summit.
Beaver took care of business in a 41-9 win over Delta (box score). Delta took a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, but the Beavers came roaring back, scoring 41 of the next 47 points for a blowout victory. Everyone contributed to the Beaver win, with EJ Allred, Turner Williams and Statler Wright (on a pass from Treyson Hunter) scoring touchdowns. Williams was a special-teams highlight, taking a punt 65 yards to the house for a touchdown.
“Our defense played really solid again tonight. It’s good to get a win on the road but more importantly, it revealed some areas we have to get better in,” Beaver head coach Jon Marshall said.
Even though the team has started out 2-0, Marshall still sees room for improvement.
“Our offense and special teams have to be more consistent. We are getting too many penalties and our execution can be better. We aren’t where we need to be execution-wise. But it’s Week 2 so I guess it can be expected,” Marshall said.
An 88-yard return for a touchdown by Kaleb Sanchez on the opening kickoff set the tone for Duchesne in a 20-3 win against Parowan (box score). Cameron Brady hit Trevin Coil for a 32-yard pass and Westin Gines had a 3-yard touchdown run in the Eagles’ defensive-dominated performance.
“Kaleb Sanchez took the opening kickoff back and our guys never looked back. Need to clean up some penalties but our kids played their tails off for us tonight,” Duchesne head coach Jerry Cowan said. “Ethan Park lead the charge on defense for us and our offense did a good job moving the ball throughout the game, led by quarterback Cameron Brady.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Millard exploded for a 38-point second quarter, setting the tone in a 58-7 win over Judge Memorial (box score). Braxton Bond had two touchdown passes and Hunter Rhodes and James Stephenson each had a touchdown pass as well. Jed DeGraffenried had two rushing touchdowns and a touchdown reception, Luke DeGraffenried had a rushing touchdown and KC Whitaker, Morgan Wade and Taylor Davies all had receiving touchdowns. Chaz Ashton had a 51-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
“We started a little slow but once we got going and woke up we looked good. Our defense and special teams really played well tonight,” Millard head coach Ethan Stephenson said.
Quarterback Bo Hardy got it done for Milford in a 34-9 win over Gunnison (box score). Hardy rushed for two touchdowns and threw two more — both to Treyton Rose. Casek Hardy rushed for a score, Zach Stewart took a punt return 32 yards to the house and Milford forced a safety in the win.
“We came out a little flat tonight but you’ve got to hand it to Gunnison, they pushed us every step of the way. Trey Rose had a big game tonight,” Milford head coach Thane Marshall said. “He picked up the slack as they tried to take Bret Beebe out of his game. Bo had another good game. We came out after half and played really well in the second half.”