High school football: Corner Canyon’s third-quarter barrage stuns Davis in season-opening rout

Defending 6A state champion Corner Canyon and perennial power Davis had Friday’s season-opening matchup circled on their 2026 schedules ever since the game was revealed.

Fans packed the Davis football stadium, most of them wearing unique red promotional T-shirts, and for much of the first half, they were intrigued by the events on the field.

However, the Chargers rode the talents of Jaxon Pehrson, Diesel Dart and Josh Harris to score 16 points during an amazing span of just 23 seconds and routed No. 4 Davis 51-14 to give new coach Casey Sutera an inspirational win and leave no doubt why they are in the top spot of the state’s rankings.

Pehrson, the Chargers’ 6-foot-1 senior who had taken just a few snaps as a varsity quarterback coming into the game, threw for 206 yards, ran for 103 more and had his hand in four scores as Corner Canyon came out of the locker room in the second half and showed why it has been Utah’s most dominant football program over the last decade.

“It’s good to be back (playing football),” Sutera said. “It’s good to carry on this tradition. The kids put a lot of work in and our quarterback was awesome. He hit some big-time throws and had that long touchdown run. He made some good reads and took care of the football.

“In the second half, we were locked in more,” he added. “Our (offensive) line was awesome and Jackson broke loose on a long run. You want to play good teams early and our offense settled in and our defense was lights out most of the game. We showed that, when we execute, we can score quickly.”

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Sutera noted that former Chargers coach Eric Kjar was in the stands. The new Weber State football coach was hiding among Corner Canyon fans on the east-side bleachers. During the first half, he watched as Corner Canyon’s offense appeared lackluster and led only 7-6.

However, the Chargers took the second-half kickoff and dominated.

Corner Canyon scored 30 straight points and, once it had the momentum, recorded a safety and then returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

“Any time you get a score on defense and one on special teams, you’re tough to beat,” Sutera said. “We did it all tonight.”

Running back Jackson Carruth got the rout started when he broke loose on a 30-yard run to ignite a seven-play drive that ended in a touchdown. Davis couldn’t move the ball on its ensuing drive and punted, and the Chargers took a 21-6 lead on short touchdown pass from Pehrson to Carter Kjar, the former coach’s son.

After another Davis punt, Pehrson broke loose on the first play of the ensuing drive — sprinting 82 yards for a score — and the outcome was never in doubt from there.

Pehrson was also thrilled at how quickly the game changed.

“It was great out there tonight,” he said. “It took us a while to get going but then they couldn’t stop us. It was a team effort. We were all playing our best.”

In a game that featured several of the state’s top playmakers, Pehrson added his name to the list. He completed 10 of 13 passes and three went for scores.

Junior Darren Borg got playing time in the fourth quarter and found Beckham Coon open for an 85-yard scoring pass.

Davis QB Brodie Scheinberg, playing his first game since transferring from California, completed 25 of 40 passes but for only 182 yards. He had just one completion over 20 yards, a scoring strike standout receiver Bode Sparrow.

Jaxon Itaaeheau, another talented Davis receiver, played limited time due to a hamstring injury but he had a remarkable one-handed touchdown catch in the first quarter that gave the Darts an early lead.