It was a classic Friday Night Lights atmosphere and a premier matchup between Lehi and Skyridge on Thursday Night. What a night. What a game. The game I dubbed in the preview as an “offense vs defense” matchup. Which team would dictate the game’s pace? The home team’s powerful offense that had scored 52.6/ ppg coming into this matchup? Or the visitors who had only allowed 7.7/ ppg through their first four?

The answer to this question came early–the defensive minded visiting team, Lehi decided to play the defense and score all of the points. At least, that’s what they did to begin the game. Let’s get into it.

“Why do you do this every day? The pain, the recovery, the struggle, the strict workouts–Why do you do this to yourself every day?”

“I don’t have a choice. I love it. You don’t choose what you love. Love is that force that comes from deep within. I don’t have a choice–I guess that in a way, to not do this would be to suppress love.”

Lehi @ Skyridge

PREGAME

Skyridge and Lehi both packed the house in orange and purple.

The home side bleachers were packed to the gills and highlighted by the band and large, coordinated student section who were in full voice and energetic throughout the game. The visitors who travelled the long, long 3.1 miles from their home field equally packed their bleacher section and they were also highlighted by an energetic student section.

Surrounding the field in a semi-circle is a lush grassy knoll where hundreds of other spectators sat in folding chairs or on picnic blankets and kids launched themselves headfirst towards the concrete sidewalk that separates the knoll from the field. By halftime, it was as packed as the bleachers. Tighter than a hummingbird’s keister. Not even room for two chairs to be set side-by-side anywhere with a good view of the field. A truly packed house and buzzing environment.

Baked cookies, burgers on the grill, and fresh cut grass were the smells that filled the air as the two teams burst onto the field. Skyridge, decked in their home ‘Syracuse Orange’ uniforms from the NW Corner and storming from the SE corner was Lehi in their away white jerseys with ‘Horned Frog’ purple numbers.

Roars from both sides as their beloved team ran onto the gridiron. Both student sections in full voice and unified. Truly, half the home stands were students, and this created the best high school student section I’ve seen this season. Worthy of the old Hometown Tigers “Blue Crew” inside the FedEx Forum circa 2005.

Spine tingling, intense type of energy. I began the game standing on the NE corner of the grassy hill and could feel the buzz in the air that nearly had me in “put me in coach” mode. There is a chance that this energy was felt a bit too much on the field by the players. Perhaps this played a role in how the home side began the game.

THE GAME

Quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne and the high-powered offense took the field first. Strength on strength straight out of the gate, and Lehi’s strong defense forced a punt. Skyridge regained possession a few minutes later after forcing a punt themselves. A slow start by both sides offensively. Keep a grip on the saddle horn, Bucko. 0-0 ain’t the final score.

6:56 1st Quarter: On Skyridge’s second possession Sweetwyne was feeling the pressure and threw the softest of tosses directly to big, bad #95 Briggs Love who corralled it and bumbled all the way down near the 10. Skyridge was attempting to set up a screen and Lehi was not fooled in the slightest. Every player was covered and Sweetwyne was under pressure and looked like he was trying to soft toss it to his back in the flat. Somehow, he didn’t see the 6’1/ 265 defensive lineman and tossed the ball directly between the 9 and the 5 on his jersey.

6:49 1st Quarter: Seconds later Senior running back Devaughn Eka burst into the endzone untouched. The Lehi side was jumping. Defense to offense. Advantage Lehi.

During the timeout I observed the 6’4 orange clad QB clapping up his teammates and remaining positive. Only 7-0 and they had scored 50+ a game to that point. Skyridge had every reason to remain confident even though the early momentum battle was won by the visitors.

6:35 1st Quarter: Instead of bouncing back with a touchdown of their own, Sweetwyne tossed another interception. Under pressure again, he unwisely threw it into double coverage over the middle and someone in the Lehi secondary snagged it. Defense over offense once again.

5:32 1st Quarter: Lehi was near the 50 facing a 3rd and medium. The stadium was as loud as it had been all night to that point as the home side, specifically the outstanding student section, rallied behind their defense. The ball was on the right hash. On the snap, the right guard pulled left, and the entire play moved towards the far side of the field. Skyridge was all over it and aggressively pursued the QB as he rolled left. Only one problem–one player was moving to the right, and no one saw him. Just about the time the Skyridge D thought that had a third down stop for a loss, the QB flipped the ball to the sprinting wide receiver that was split out to the left–REVERSE!

Legend Glasker turned on the jets and rocketed 50 yards down the sideline away from the defense that had over pursued and lost the edge being forced out just before the endzone by Safety Briggs Parker. Glasker will return to the show very soon. Moments later, in absolute old school ‘Refrigerator Perry’ style, big #95 who incidentally became one of my favorite players on the night, powered in a Touchdown run from the 1. Defense leading to offense. Advantage Lehi. 14-0.

Home fans were stunned in silence, except the band and student section. A classic showing of wholesome school spirit as they cheered, sang, and rallied behind their struggling team.

The offense responded.

2:04 1st Quarter: After a methodical drive, Sweetwyne connected with #11 on a three-yard touchdown pass. 14-7. The home side was bumping. I scribbled, “One stop for SKY right here and this is game!” I’ll admit I had high expectations in this Skyridge team from what I had seen on the stat sheets.

I had hardly finished scribbling that hyperbolic statement when…

1:52 1st Quarter: Twelve game seconds later, Junior QB Cash Hollingshead connected with the legend, Legend Glasker on a 10-yard post route and this speedster took it all 75 yards to the house completely untouched. A miscommunication in the secondary left him wide open. Credit Lehi for exploiting the mistake. 21-7. Even the students went quiet for this one.

Skyridge put together a drive and worked the ball down inside the five-yard line to end the 1st quarter.

After failing to score or even gain a yard on the first plays from the five, Skyridge lined up for a 4th and goal. Hunter Sheffield was split out to the right with tight man coverage provided by Reed Neilson. “Here comes the fade” said someone within earshot. Sure enough, Lehi committed to stopping the run, left Neilson all alone to cover the best Skyridge receiver. Sweetwyne dropped back and only looked towards Sheffield. Everyone knew where this ball was going, including Reed as he positioned himself perfectly to not allow the receiver to jump for the overthrown ball which fell harmlessly three or four yards out of bounds. Big Stop for Lehi. Defense wins again. Still 21-7.

As Lehi took the field backed inside their own five, the students regained their energy. 1st and 2nd down yielded less than two yards combined. This left a 3rd and long from just outside the five-yard line. “Just run it with 24 (Eka) and punt” I thought to myself. Up two scores on the road with the defense playing with such heart and disciplined conviction, it seemed like the logical move.

9:09 2nd Quarter: I imagine a radio announcer calling it this way:

3rd and 10 from the five. Hollingshead drops back near his own endzone. Looking, looking. He throws it across the middle. Its tipped and Intercepted! Briggs Parker the Safety has it. He’s to the 15,10,5, TOUCHDOWN SKYRIDGE!

21-14. Gamechanger. Skyridge with some defense into offense of their own.

I knew it, everyone knew it. That was a game changing play. A questionable play call, but credit Skyridge for taking the advantage handed to them. It goes without saying, this was the loudest the crowd had been to that point and that is saying something. I’ll say it again because they deserve it–the Skyridge student section made this happen. Even when the chips were down, they rallied behind their team. Their belief was contagious enough for the team to catch it.

This game is far from over. Let’s sip some coffee. Good gracious. What a night this was.

A short, uneventful drive by Lehi gave the ball back to Skyridge who put together their best drive of the night. Skyridge put together a combined effort of solid execution that was notably free from penalties. The synergy was paid off by a 1 yard touchdown run with 4:41 to go in the half. 21-21.

Lehi responded with a decent drive led by the running back Eka that stalled near the thirty. All night #24 in white, Eka, ran the ball and caught passes out of the backfield. He was the offense. At 5’11/ 200 he reminded me of Miami’s Achane as he ran strong between the tackles and fast around the edge.

On 4th and long from the 31 with 92 seconds left in the half, #49 Bode Hammond drilled a field goal dead center with twenty yards to spare. 24-21. Bode’s got a leg.

Skyridge took over from their 25 with just under 90 seconds to go.

Boom. Boom. Boom. That’s what this drive was. Three consecutive big throws from Sweetwyne. The first two to Adam Warren. The third was a 24 yard strike to Hunter Sheffield for a go-ahead touchdown. 28-24.

The Student Section went bananas as “Cotton-Eyed Joe” blasted over the speakers. Sheer pandemonium in the most wholesome way.

Halftime.

The way the last drive went is what I expected from the home team and especially from the Senior QB who had 28 total touchdowns coming into this game. Momentum favored Skyridge, but both teams walked off the field full of confidence. I was especially observant of the Lehi team as they exited the field and crossed the parking lot to the visitors’ locker room. Not a shred of disbelief in any of their eyes.

I was no more than three feet from starting Right Tackle #55 Mataal’i Benjamin. My days! #55 is a unit. In fact, there were several Lehi offensive linemen that caught my eye. #72 Kacyn Page 6’5/ 305, #66 Mate Kitonga 6’6/ 310, and of course Benjamin who stands at 6’7/ 315. Absolute units. Modern day giants.

Turns out Benjamin is headed to Minnesota. He’ll be joining Corner Canyon WR Kai Meza and Liberty (AZ) LB Hudson Dunn.

In fact, let’s go through the top prospects in this game since we are at a break.

TOP Utah Prospects via: 247Sports

• #10 Mataalii Benjamin OT (Minnesota)
• #12 PJ Takitaki EDGE (Undecided)
• #15 Legend Glasker WR (BYU)
• #16 Adruen Meredith EDGE (undecided)
• #21 Kaneal Sweetwyne QB (undecided)
• #24 Bryton Niu TE (Oklahoma St)
• #25 Devaughn Eka RB (BYU)
• #26 Harvie Moeai EDGE (Arizona)
• #31 Matekitonga Havea OT (undecided)

Halftime brought out the impressively sized marching band, cheer squad, and color guard. It felt like a small college’s halftime show. Absolutely well-done. Skyridge put on a show while young little masters darted through sprinklers on the unlit soccer field that was adjacent to the football stadium and fresh-faced co-eds played hard to get with each other behind the east bleachers. It wasn’t Friday Night, but it sure felt like it.

SECOND HALF

6:26 3rd Quarter: Devaughn Eke broke away and scored on a 45-yard touchdown run for his second of the night. 31-28 Lehi.

3:18 3rd Quarter: Cam Wren scored on a 55 yard TD pass from Hollingshead. 38-28 Lehi.

The Skyridge offense to this point had been flat and lacked the coordinated effort they displayed to end the half. The defensively minded Lehi was now executing better on both sides of the ball than their offensive juggernaut opponent. The students continued to rally.

Skyridge’s best drive of the second half had them at the one yard line to begin the fourth. Flashback–Remember when Skyridge ended the 1st with an ‘And goal’ situation only to turn it over on downs to begin the 2nd? Well, they didn’t. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Sweetwyne rushed it in to cut the deficit to three. 38-35. 11:56 4th Quarter.

Lehi’s offense stalled and gave the ball back to Skyridge.

I don’t know the details from this point forward, but Lincoln Tahi rushed it in for his second touchdown of the night to give Skyridge a 42-38 lead. 7:17 4th quarter.

Again, I do not know exactly what took place, but the facts are this–“Cash Hollingshead’s 4th down pass attempt fell innocently to the turf and Skyridge knelt it out for a 42-38 win.” -KSL paraphrased.

FINAL Lehi 38 @ Skyridge 42

Lehi falls to 0-1 in Region 3 and Skyridge moves to 1-0.

Skyridge showed constant and impressive resilience all night. Two times in the first half they were down 14, yet they led at the half by 4. Then in the second half, trailed by 10 in the cross-town rivalry game and erased the deficit completely to come away with a four-point win. Overcoming adversity multiple times is quite impressive.

Lehi’s defense did dictate the tone of the game early, but the Skyridge offense was able to find their rhythm and win. I guess offense bested defense, to answer the pregame question I posed yesterday.

Impressive Performances:

• Skyridge Student Section
  • I believe the crowd and band kept the home team in the game when they were struggling early. Constant voice, good energy in perfect unison. Best Student section I’ve seen this season.
• Lehi WR Legend Glasker
  • Ripped a 50 yard run to the one and caught a 75 yard TD in the first half
• Lehi RB Devaughn Eka
  • 228 Rushing yards. 2 TD
• Lehi CB Reed Neilson
  • Nothing to add to the stat sheet for #20, but let me tell you, he never missed a one-on-one tackle on the perimeter. Not once. I counted 4. Strong, especially for his size and displayed courage and great technique.
• Lehi Kicker Bode Hammond
  • Big leg alert. Kickoffs clearing the endzone consistently to go along with the 47 yarder he drilled dead center. It could have been 60 and still cleared.
• Lehi Big, bad #95 DL Briggs Love
  • The interception and TD run were the cherries on top of his Sundae performance.
  • Every play he battled to make an impact, pressured the QB, blew up run plays and just all-round hustled all night. Fun to watch.
• Lehi LB Vince Evans
  • #0 was everywhere
• Skyridge QB Kaneal Sweetwyne
  • 379 thru the air. Three total Td’s and three picks.
  • He never quit. He never hung his head. He led his team and played with belief. This is the resilience it takes to win in football and life in general. Truly impressed with the confidence he displayed during the quite adverse first half and third quarter. Whether it’s on the football field or in the marketplace, Sweetwyne will be a winner. He’s got the goods where it counts.
• Skyridge Safety Briggs Parker
  • The pick six to bring the score to 21-14 in the second quarter was a gamechanger. McNelly Award winning type of play.
• Skyridge RB Lincoln Tahi
  • Two rushing TD
• Skyridge WR Hunter Sheffield
  • One TD to end the half, but his performance was bigger than the stat sheet shows. 110% on every play.
• Skyridge WR Adam Warren
  • Two courageous catches over the middle caught my eye, but like everyone else on this list–the stats do not do his effort justice.

In fact, there was not one player that did not impress me in some way. Both sides played with grit, belief, and passion and neither deserved to lose that game. It was the best ball game I’ve been to all year and it’s not close.

Just like in life, football has a winner and a loser. It shouldn’t matter which side you’re on as long as you truly believed in the effort that was exerted. Both Lehi and Skyridge have so much to be proud of in the way they displayed hard-work and character through adversity.

I mean, Lehi was down to begin the half but acted as though they were up 21 with their body language and execution. This is the real stuff. The ability to take ownership of the situation and display character when life doesn’t go our way. Not once–I mean this and emphasize this because I’ve observed the opposite of this behavior in every other game I’ve watched this year–Not once did I see a head hang or someone get down on themself on either team. This is the stuff that impressed me the most.

It’s at this point that I’ll say both coaches should take pride in the work they’ve put into these young men. Men are born. Leaders are made.

A challenge to all the young men that played last night–Keep impressing others with your hard work, leadership, and determination. Others will notice and respond likewise.

“My heart beats in Tennessee, but my sun sets in Colorado”- Dierks Bentley

My heart beats in Tennessee, but my sun sets on a football field. Rocky Mountain or elsewhere. Football under the lights is lifeblood. It fuels me, reinvigorates me, and inspires me to keep going through this tricky world. Some things don’t make sense right now. Football still does and for that–I say ‘thank you’ to each participant in last night’s epic game.

Skyridge play at Corner Canyon and Lehi host Herriman next Friday Night. I can’t wait.

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.