A look at Utah High School Football, but first–

I’s 6:44 on the stove clock on this brisk Monday morning. Clear skies, bright stars, full moon, and frosty breath accompanied me on the walk around the block with the fuzzy this morning. My four-legged best friend had a little extra pep in her step. Like me, she loves these cold snaps. Prime fall morning. Prime football and hiking weather. It truly doesn’t get better than this weather wise.

I hope you’ve had a great weekend and are cruising along through the Monday. Whether it’s a grind or the best day of your life, find the humor and keep on movin’–it all passes eventually. Might as well laugh.

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Friday Night Lights has been my favorite part of this football season. It all began with the shallow interest I took in Corner Canyon right down the street from me back in July. As good as the Chargers are and as much pedigree that the school has established, Utah High School Football is so much more than this one school.

Sure, Corner Canyon have won 5 of the last 8 State Titles including the last two, but it would be quite a reductive approach to narrow High School football down to one or even two teams. I say two because upon discovering Corner Canyon, I quickly learned about Lone Peak. From a national perspective, the conversation of football in Utah usually starts with Corner Canyon and ends with Lone Peak, but there is not much mention of the rest of the highly talented, hard-working, and well-coached teams.

On this Monday morning, with a cup of liquid treasure to my right and Wolfgang Amadeus playing from the speaker to my left, I am going to add to the voices that are highlighting the entire State of High School football in Utah. A bringer of life, a messenger of peace, so is a hot cup of coffee when you need it.

UTAH HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Regular readers will be familiar with UHSAA 6A as I have updated the top scores every week, but there are teams at 5A and 4A that are worth mentioning. Let’s take a look.

UHSAA 4A:

• Ridgeline 8-0 Region 11
  • Won on the road against 5A Brighton 41-0
• Crimson Cliffs 7-1 Region 9
  • Beat 5A Brighton 35-29
  • One loss @ Lone Peak 49-14

UHSAA 5A:

• West 7-1 Region 4
  • One loss to 6A American Fork 18-12
  • WR Louie Hamilton leads 5A with 20 TD’s and 995 rec yards
  • 5-0 in Region 4
• Granger 7-1 Region 4
  • Loss at Orem 42-12 Week 1
  • Lu Kinikini and Maa’imoa Havili combine for 26 sacks
  • WR Uli Figiel and Materi Puamau combine for 21 TD’s
  • 5-0 in Region 4

West @ Granger 10/10 at 7Pm

• Springville 7-1 Region 7
  • One loss at Orem 17-14
  • Zachary Henderson 6 INT, 2 TD, 1 KR TD
• Orem 6-2 Region 7
  • Losses:
    • @Lone Peak 34-21
    • @ #1 Rocky Mountain High (ID) 39-37
  • Complete Team
  • Easton Kojima 80 Tackles leads the team
• Fremont 6-2 Region 5
  • Notable win @ 6A Davis 35-34
  • Losses:
    • Corner Canyon
    • Farmington
  • ATH Salesi Moa 10 TD and 642 rec yards

5A is wide open. There is a ton of talent at this level with Orem leading the charge boasting five of the State’s top 50 recruits.

• #7 ATH Kaue Akana 6’2/ 200 BYU
  • Instincts and closing speed and a fearless tackler
• #12 DL Lopeti Moala 6’4/250 BYU
  • Big kid, big smile. Has fun dominating the line.
  • Quinnen Williams type
• #13 TE Kai Wesley 6’7/ 235 Baylor
• #16 QB Tayden Kaawa 6’5/ 235 Alabama
• #41 LB Isaac Vaea 6’2/ 208 uncommitted

Orem has the top talent in 5A and appears to be the most complete team, but any of the above teams listed could win State.

UHSAA 6A:

• Corner Canyon 6-1
• Herriman 7-1
• Davis 7-1
• Mountain Ridge 6-2
• Skyridge 6-2
• American Fork 6-2

• Worth noting that Lone Peak and Lehi are two three loss teams that are much better than their records suggest.

Each team has shown flashes of greatness and the ability to win in all situations. There is not a clear front runner going into the last two weeks of the regular season. When the time comes, I see Casuga and Corner Canyon facing off with Tradon and Davis.

It’s here that I’ll spend a minute on the Davis Darts.

Davis caught my eye on the opening Thursday Night of the season when Boise St commit Tradon Bessinger tossed 5 TD’s in the blowout win at Brighton. Poor Brighton. 4-4 against a pretty tough schedule.

But Davis is much more than Tradon Bessinger although he does lead the state in Passing Yards (3,028) and Passing touchdowns (37).

Three ATH on the roster are standouts and potentially future college stars.

• JR ATH Bode Sparrow
  • 2 Defensive TD’s
  • 12 REC TD”S
  • 848 rec yards
  • 7 INT’s
• JR ATH Jaxton Itaaheau
  • 147 rushing yards and 2 TD”S
  • 611 rec yards and 9 TD’s
  • 23 Tackles and 1 INT
• SR ATH Isaac Morrison
  • 3 INT, 29 Tackles
  • 694 Rec yards and 5 TD”s

These players are making an impact on both sides of the ball and certainly have bright futures in the sport.

To go along with Tradon and these three Athletes, Senior Ethan Lockwood is about as sturdy as they come. He leads the team with tackles (97) which is 16 more than second on the team and is seemingly in on every play.

Davis suffered its only loss on the road at Fremont. The Darts blew a second half lead and eventually lost in Overtime due to some heroic Fremont performances. Notably, number one player in the State Salesi Moa scored two 4th quarter TD’s. Other than that, the Darts have done nothing but win.

I’d love to see this team make a run in the playoffs. Sparrow and Itaaheau are stars of the future.

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The state of Utah is being treated to some elite High School ball. With only two games from the playoffs, these games matter more and more. With the temps dropping, fans will bundle in blankets and gloves, and those pads on the field will be popping just a little harder. The cold always breeds tougher play and cold fingertips. It’s just how it is in the oblong game gets late in the season.

I’m here for it.

Good luck to every youngster competing and thank you to every coach and official that serve to make this game great.

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.