Corner Canyon Beats Mountain Ridge 34-28 on a Night of Takeaways and Moves On to the 6A Title Game

SALT LAKE CITY, Rice-Eccles Stadium: Corner Canyon (11-2), the three-time defending 6A state champion, beat Mountain Ridge (12-1) 34-28 in the 6A semifinal on Thursday and will play Skyridge for the state title. Mountain Ridge got the ball back with about a minute and 20 seconds left, no timeouts and a chance to win, and the last pass from around the 30 sailed out of the end zone as time expired.

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How it was won

Corner Canyon's defense won it. Mountain Ridge out-gained Corner Canyon 536 yards to 263 and ran 93 plays to 54, but it was intercepted seven times, and Corner Canyon turned the takeaways into 24 points. Mountain Ridge's quarterback was intercepted on the first play of the game, and the turnovers kept coming all night, including a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown by Brody Allred and a late interception by Isaac Otuafi that Corner Canyon turned into a field goal. Lakin Abilla and Josh Harris each intercepted two passes. Corner Canyon led 17-0 in the second quarter, saw Mountain Ridge cut it to 17-14 by halftime, and answered in the second half with two deep passes and a touchdown to Beckam Coon. Mountain Ridge made it a game again with Jaxon Hunt's touchdown run and a late touchdown drive, but it could not finish.

In the final minutes Mountain Ridge made it to about the Corner Canyon 47 with a sack, a cramp that stopped the clock and no timeouts, and then Corner Canyon had a chance at a game-clinching interception that did not come down. Mountain Ridge got to 24 seconds, then 10, and a pass over the middle that nearly became a great catch. A throw got out of bounds with four seconds left, and the last play was a long throw into the end zone that went out.

SPIN player of the game: Josh Harris

My player of the game is Corner Canyon's Josh Harris, No. 21, a senior cornerback who also punts. The official statistics give him two interceptions, six tackles (four solo), and a pass breakup, and he punted six times for 289 yards, a 48.2 average with a long of 68 and three inside the 20. He also saved a bad snap on a punt with a kick that went for a touchback, returned a punt 11 yards and added 34 yards on three kickoff returns.

Scoring summary

• First quarter, 8:40: Levi Hines 1-yard run, Carson Burnett kick. Corner Canyon 7, Mountain Ridge 0.
• First quarter, 6:33: Jackson Carruth 1-yard run, Burnett kick. Corner Canyon 14, Mountain Ridge 0.
• Second quarter, 10:20: Burnett 27-yard field goal. Corner Canyon 17, Mountain Ridge 0.
• Second quarter, 6:52: Jordan Claassen 42-yard pass from Jaxon Hunt, Will O'Neil kick. Corner Canyon 17, Mountain Ridge 7.
• Second quarter, 0:30: Hunt 9-yard run, O'Neil kick. Corner Canyon 17, Mountain Ridge 14.
• Third quarter, 9:26: Coon 11-yard pass from Jaxon Pehrson, Burnett kick. Corner Canyon 24, Mountain Ridge 14.
• Fourth quarter, 9:50: Hunt 25-yard run, O'Neil kick. Corner Canyon 24, Mountain Ridge 21.
• Fourth quarter, 9:21: Allred 46-yard interception return, Burnett kick. Corner Canyon 31, Mountain Ridge 21.
• Fourth quarter, 5:33: Burnett 29-yard field goal. Corner Canyon 34, Mountain Ridge 21.
• Fourth quarter, 3:42: Tytan Dejong 14-yard pass from Hunt, O'Neil kick. Corner Canyon 34, Mountain Ridge 28.

Final team numbers

From the official final statistics.

Individual leaders: Corner Canyon's Jackson Carruth rushed 28 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. Coon caught four passes for 85 yards and a score. Mountain Ridge's Tytan Dejong caught 11 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, and Tyson Dunn rushed 17 times for 99 yards. Corner Canyon's Isaac Otuafi returned an interception 63 yards, and No. 6 W. Tenney led the Corner Canyon defense with 14 tackles.

Fourth quarter

Mountain Ridge opened the fourth quarter at second and 12 from its own 18 and went to hurry-up mode. It hit a pass at about the Corner Canyon 47 on a free play after Corner Canyon had 12 men on the field, and the quarterback, Jaxon Hunt, got about 18 yards out of it. There was one illegal-substitution penalty. High school football has no college-style substitution rule, so a team can go fast, and Mountain Ridge took advantage of that a couple of times.

This was a must-have drive. Hunt made good decisions. On an RPO against a heavy box he threw outside, and he followed it with a swing pass and a screen for a first down. Corner Canyon sent a blitz and ate up one screen. Then Lakin Abilla made a great read and jumped a route and nearly had a third interception.

On the next down Corner Canyon showed a pressure look and bailed out of it, and Mountain Ridge called a quarterback draw at the perfect time. Hunt ran through a tackle and into the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown run, and the extra point made it 24-21 with 9:50 left.

Then the game turned twice. Corner Canyon fumbled, and Mountain Ridge's Boston Kojima caused it and recovered it. It never got anywhere. On an RPO, a Mountain Ridge pass was batted at the line by Corner Canyon's Sam Ord and intercepted by Brody Allred, who returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. Corner Canyon led 31-21 with 9:21 left.

Mountain Ridge came back with a drive in the middle of the field. Hunt hit Jordan Claassen on a 15-yard dig route and then another for 16, big throws made in time. A false start and an offensive pass interference penalty put Mountain Ridge at first and 25 from its own 31, and it later faced fourth and 8 near midfield and went for it.

The pass was intercepted by Isaac Otuafi, who returned it along the sideline to the Mountain Ridge 7-yard line. Corner Canyon took a holding penalty and a sack and faced fourth and 12, and Carson Burnett kicked a perfect 29-yard field goal for 34-21 with 5:33 left. In my view that was a big stop for Mountain Ridge, because two touchdowns and two extra points would tie it.

Mountain Ridge got the drive it needed, starting with 5:33 left. Hunt escaped pressure and threw back across his body for a first down, then ran for 8. Corner Canyon had 12 men on the field on a free play, and Hunt threw deep to Tytan Dejong, who made a great catch at the 39 for about 20 yards. Mountain Ridge was quickly down to about the 14-yard line, and then it scored on an easy pitch and catch, a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dejong. In my view Corner Canyon played soft coverage on that whole drive, keeping everything in front of it. The extra point made it 34-28 with 3:42 left.

Corner Canyon got a straight kickoff, took over at its own 20, and ran the ball. A third-and-6 run for a first down put Mountain Ridge in a spot where it had to use timeouts. Mountain Ridge got its stop, Corner Canyon let the clock run and Josh Harris punted on a clean snap, and the ball went out of bounds at the 21.

The final drive started with 1:20 left, with the ball at the Mountain Ridge 21. Mountain Ridge had no timeouts, and a sack kept the clock running. A cramp stopped the clock, which was a break for Mountain Ridge. It reached second and 1 from the 47, and it got to the final seconds with a big catch by Dejong that nearly came down inbounds. It got out of bounds with four seconds left, and the last pass, from around the 30, went out of the end zone. The official drive chart has the possession at nine plays and 49 yards.

Third quarter

Corner Canyon got the ball first in the second half. Harris fielded the kickoff and was tackled at about the Corner Canyon 17. Corner Canyon came out in 13 personnel, three tight ends, and Mountain Ridge again played a seven-man box. That was the whole game: if Corner Canyon could not win one-on-one on the outside, it would not beat Mountain Ridge, and the first throw of the half it won one.

Then Corner Canyon hit two big deep passes in a row, covering about 80 yards of field, with just the right amount of touch on both. They were as impressive as any throws we have seen from its quarterback this season. That put the ball at the Mountain Ridge 10-yard line, and Corner Canyon called a timeout.

The drive did not score right away. Corner Canyon came up empty on its next shot, and Mountain Ridge called a timeout facing third and goal. Then Jaxon Pehrson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Beckam Coon, a very physical route and a really good throw. The extra point was good, and Corner Canyon led 24-14 with 9:26 left in the quarter.

Mountain Ridge answered with its best drive since the two-minute drill. It was in rhythm, with a speed option for 13 yards by No. 45 Tyson Dunn on a good pitch from Hunt, then a quick out for another 13. That put the ball at the Corner Canyon 12, and Corner Canyon's Ryce Palepoi sniffed out the same option play on the next down.

Then Mountain Ridge tried a trick play, a reverse that was supposed to turn into a pass. The ball carrier got out of two tackles and stayed with the pass, but Josh Harris was waiting in the end zone for it. In my view it was probably the easiest interception of his life. He took a knee for a touchback.

Corner Canyon could not do anything with it. Mountain Ridge sent four rushers on third and 15 and a good play call from the defense kept Corner Canyon from getting the first down. Harris punted, and Mountain Ridge took over around the 29-yard line, with a first down on a run and a holding penalty that left it at first and 20 from its own 42.

The drive ended in another interception. Lakin Abilla, who also had the first-half interception, baited a throw and picked it off for his second of the game. Corner Canyon took over with 2:34 left in the quarter and stuck with the ground game, then punted. The snap on the punt was bad, but Harris handled it, got the kick off to the opposite side of the field and it went for a touchback. Mountain Ridge's drive from its own 20 went nowhere, and it had second and 12 from its own 18 to start the fourth quarter.

How the first half went

Mountain Ridge could not have scripted a worse start. Its quarterback was intercepted on the first play of the game, and Corner Canyon took over and drove to the 4-yard line. On 4th and 1 inside the 1, the Corner Canyon quarterback appeared to score off the right side, but a timeout had been called before the snap, so the touchdown did not count. Corner Canyon ran it again, and Levi Hines scored from a yard out around the right side. Carson Burnett's extra point was good for a 7-0 lead with 8:40 left in the first.

Mountain Ridge's second possession ended in another interception, a deep ball picked off by Lakin Abilla and returned to the Mountain Ridge 15. Jackson Carruth walked in from the 1-yard line for a 14-0 lead with 6:33 left. The third possession ended in a third interception. Three possessions, three interceptions.

Mountain Ridge's defense then had its first good series, and Corner Canyon ended the first quarter up 14-0. A Corner Canyon drive stalled on 4th and 3 at the 10 early in the second, and Burnett kicked a 27-yard field goal. On that drive Corner Canyon had one-on-one coverage in the end zone, and its quarterback threw a perfect ball that was dropped. A touchdown there would have made it 21-0. It was 17-0 with 10:20 left in the second quarter.

Corner Canyon turned the ball over on a sack-fumble, and Mountain Ridge took over at about the Corner Canyon 42. On the next play its quarterback got out of the pocket and hit Jordan Claassen on an over route for a 42-yard touchdown. Will O'Neil's extra point made it 17-7 with 6:52 left in the half.

Mountain Ridge got the ball at its own 9 with 2:00 left in the half, trailing 17-7, out of timeouts. After a swing pass and a run, it took a sack, which put it in 3rd and 3 at its own 16. A short in-breaking route converted it, and Mountain Ridge went to hurry-up mode. Corner Canyon had trouble getting lined up and called two timeouts. Corner Canyon was flagged 15 yards for hitting a defenseless receiver, which in my view was a bad call because the hit was low and not to the head or neck. The penalty put the ball at the 9-yard line, and Hunt scored on a 9-yard run with 30 seconds left to finish a 10-play, 91-yard drive that took 1:30. The extra point made it 17-14 at the half.

Editorial note from the SPIN desk

This is opinion, not reporting, and it was written at halftime. The SPIN desk thought Corner Canyon was in trouble. It had its chance to put Mountain Ridge away early, up 17-0 with the dropped touchdown that would have made it 21-0, and it did not do it. Mountain Ridge is too good a team to give that chance to. It had weathered the storm, and the desk expected Mountain Ridge to win this game.