High school football: Skyline’s offensive explosion helps it cruise past Juan Diego

New year, new mindset, and boy is the confidence growing at Skyline.

Coming off a big win over rival Olympus last week, the Eagles (2-2, 1-0) put the pedal to the metal on offense Friday and rolled past Juan Diego (1-3, 0-1) 55-21 at home in a Region 10 battle.

The 55 points is Skyline’s best showing this year and a big turnaround from a season ago when it only averaged eight per game over a 1-10 campaign.

“The biggest change for us has been mindset,” said Skyline coach Marcus Mailei. “The boys are starting to believe in themselves and that’s been the biggest hurdle we’ve been trying to overcome, due a lot in part to losing 10 games last year.”

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What is a bit crazy about the offensive outpouring is that only 7 of the combined 76 points on the night were scored in the first 12 minutes of play.

What is not crazy is that the first score came from Skyline quarterback Xavier Cocci, who tallied two rushing touchdowns and crossed the 300-yard mark while tossing for four more scores in the win.

“I think our offense can put teams’ heads on a swivel,” said Cocci. “If they drop everybody, I am going to run. I am also willing to wager that we have one of the best backfields in the state.”

The tandem of running back Jonah Mailei, who also rushed for two touchdowns, and fullback Maximus Cocci, was another headache for Juan Diego as the Soaring Eagle never got a handle on whether the backs were going to run the ball or run a route.

“My brother is a crazy fullback who makes crazy blocks, and Jonah is just hard to tackle,” said Xavier Cocci.

Cocci to Cocci is something defenses will be hearing all season long, and it is their dad Skip who is drawing up the plays for the Eagles’ offense.

The elder Cocci has brought his college coaching experience to Skyline with a Power Air Raid offense that is gaining momentum as the players’ confidence grows.

Xavier Cocci was able to find receivers up the sideline and across the middle who had slipped through the defense before turning on the jets or carrying defenders extra yards.

Skyline’s offensive line was also impressive in the win, giving Xavier Cocci time to pass and opening holes for him, his brother and Mailei.

“The Coccis are a great asset for us, and they are helping us build and develop grit as a team,” said coach Mailei. “I can’t say enough great things about them.”

The Coccis moved to Utah in January so they are still settling into the state but enjoying the ride. Skyline’s defense has also been getting better as the season has progressed, but tallied more penalties than its offensive counterparts Friday so it is an area the team will continue to work on.

“Our defense has been learning,” coach Mailei said. “It’s good on them for sticking to their process and executing tonight because Juan Diego is a good team. We just need to keep learning.”

Juan Diego put up a fight in the first part of the game, tying things up early in the second quarter at 7-7. But the Soaring Eagle could not muster the defense to stop the Eagles and could not get its offense going like it is used to.

One Vea led Juan Diego’s offense with two rushing touchdowns highlighted by his latter score from 63 yards out in the third quarter.

Up next, Skyline travels to Uintah, where the Utes are coming off their first win of the season, while Juan Diego looks to regroup against region foe Jordan.