High school football: Helaman Casuga leads Corner Canyon to blowout win over Fremont

Corner Canyon took a trip up north Friday to take on Fremont in a battle of two undefeated and top 10 in-state teams.

The Chargers showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the entire country as they cruised to a 67-21 road victory in front of a packed house at Moyes Stadium.

Despite the blowout victory for Corner Canyon, Fremont hung around and kept it close until the middle of the third quarter when the Chargers broke the game open by scoring five consecutive touchdowns to turn a 10-point lead (31-21), into a rout. 

“We started off a bit slow and didn’t play our best, but once we get going we’re hard to stop,” said Corner Canyon quarterback Helaman Casuga of the second half surge.

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Part of the slow start could have been the jetlag the team experienced after traveling all the way to Florida last weekend to play West Broward in the Broward County National Football Showcase.

With all sorts of travel and game delays, the team didn’t have as much time to prepare as it usually does due to the cross country trip.

The Chargers had a 14-7 lead after the first quarter Friday thanks to a 22-yard touchdown catch by Diesel Dart and a 6-yard touchdown grab by Scottie Pepper from Casuga. The lead was extended to 21-7 thanks to a 23-yard touchdown run by Casuga midway through the second quarter.

Fremont then marched right down the field and looked to cut the deficit to 21-14 with a first and goal opportunity inside the 5-yard line.

However, the Chargers defense rose to the occasion and forced the Silverwolves to turn the ball over on downs, which led to Davis Nelson connecting on a 30-yard field goal as time expired to give Corner Canyon a 24-7 lead at halftime.

“That was a huge stop by our defense,” Casuga said. “Fremont came out swinging and our guys stepped up and made a huge play and that momentum carried over to the offense.”

By the 7:45 mark of the third quarter, however, the Silverwolves had cut the deficit to 10 at 31-21 as Salesi Moa and Cade Hadley found the end zone around a touchdown a score from Charger King Cooper.

But just as it looked like Fremont was going to make a game of it, Corner Canyon showed why it is one of the top teams in the country as it easily moved the ball down the field and scored five straight touchdowns.

Cooper had two rushing touchdowns — including a 60-yard run down the left sideline — and Weston Briggs and Jesean Mayberry each had a touchdown in the win as well.

Coming into Friday night’s game, Corner Canyon had given up just 13 points the entire season, allowing just 6.5 points per game. Fremont not only scored 21 points, but it had four possessions in Charger territory — including several inside the red zone — that ended up with no points after getting stopped on fourth down. 

The Silverwolves will look to bounce back next week in a home game against Bonneville, while Corner Canyon will look to stay unbeaten as it hosts Liberty High School out of Arizona, which comes in at 1-0 after winning its season opener 37-0.