High school football: Herriman builds more confidence after dominating Desert Hills

Don’t be surprised if the Herriman Mustangs football players are walking through the halls of their high school with a bit of a swagger next week.

The Mustangs opened the 2025 season with a convincing victory over defending 5A state champion Bountiful last week and then followed it up Friday night in front of a near-capacity home crowd by destroying Desert Hills, 50-3.

Second-year coach Matt Rickards was still reflecting on the victory — and uncertain how he should respond — as he stood on the turf afterward.

“I don’t think people know yet how good we can be,” he said. “We played with a lot of physicality and learned a lot about ourselves. We still have a long way to go before we get to Region 2 (games) but this team has shown a lot so far.”

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Baden Gutierrez got Herriman’s big night going quickly by returning an interception 35 yards for a touchdown less than a minute into the game.

After that, it was mostly quarterback Tyler Messer who put on a show. One week after he threw three touchdown passes at Bountiful, Messer passed for one score and ran for two others as Herriman moved the ball nearly at will against the Thunder, who came into the game with a 1-0 record and are expected to challenge among 4A’s best.

“I was really pleased at how we ran the ball,” said Rickards. “We really didn’t show much of our offense but didn’t have to.”

Herriman took the ball to the end zone on every first-half possession. Jaiun Polanco, Tylejay Tuia, Yama Tai and Messer took turns finding holes behind the Mustangs’ talented offensive line and Desert Hills was unable to recover.

Polanco and Messer were particularly impressive. Polanco found holes up the middle, while Messer’s speed was especially noticeable on the perimeter. He had touchdown runs of 32 and 37 yards in the second half, outrunning Desert Hills defenders each time when it appeared they had a chance to cut him off.

The Thunder, which turned back Nevada’s Faith Lutheran last week, also showed some potential behind quarterback Max Brownstein and running back Isaac Andresen, but they were unable to maintain consistent drives.

Brownstein was often pressured while attempting to pass and left the game late in the second quarter after a hard hit. Desert Hills, in fact, lost several other players to injuries and seemed to be only a shadow of its former self.

Trailing 30-3 by intermission, the Thunder never threatened to score again and Herriman’s offense, defense and special teams continued to make big plays and build momentum.

“Now, we’re going to have to learn how to act as winners,” Rickards said. “We can’t get big heads. We have to earn everything.”

Rickards said the 27-7 win over Bountiful was important and gave the Mustangs a boost of confidence. A dose of reality is still possible when Herriman takes on neighborhood rival Riverton in two weeks, and a matchup at Bingham follows a week later.

“Tonight … it feels good,” Rickards said. “We’ll keep building. We still have a lot to work on in the meantime.”