HIGHLAND. It rained, the ball was slick, and the first half looked like two teams that had never met. They had. Lone Peak beat Lehi 14-7 on Oct. 8, and Friday night the Knights finished the job, 20-8, to end Lehi's season.
Let's be honest about the early going: ugly. Turnovers, penalties, and a few flags at the worst possible moments for both sides. Both teams came out amped up, and ball control was the problem for everybody. The whole night was about what you'd expect from two teams with good defenses and offenses that struggle at times.
Then there's the play that nearly changed the vibe. Josh Nesbit, a sophomore cornerback, had a pick-six sitting in his hands early and it hit the grass. A catch there grabs the momentum for Lone Peak right away. The final probably doesn't change, but the coaching staff might have kept a few more of their original hairs. Instead they earned the gray the hard way.
The Knights settled down in the second quarter and strung a drive together, a mix of run and pass, but simple. Back to basics. Cubby Hoyal, a senior, punched in the first score of the game on a wildcat snap. Right before the half, Peak hit a 49-yard field goal. A 49-yarder is a rare feat in high school to begin with. Do it on a soggy night and it's something else. I'd have given most college kickers a 50-50 shot at best.
Lone Peak was physically punishing all night on defense. Stout and aggressive, hits you hard, very much the Lone Peak style. That was the difference in the first half, and it only got louder after it.
The second half was a defensive game in the rain. The Lone Peak offense sputtered, and a couple of snaps sailed well over the quarterback's head. Didn't matter. Kingston Stroshine had a monster night with 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Nusi Schaumkel, a sophomore, picked Lehi off 3 times, and one of them went back 87 yards for a touchdown. That pick-six and a field goal were Peak's scoring in the second half.
Lehi couldn't run the ball at all. That made the Pioneers one-dimensional, and a quarterback who has to throw in the rain is never ordering off the good menu. The Lehi points came while Lone Peak's JV was on the field for a drive, so they wouldn't have happened otherwise.
From start to finish, the Knights looked like the better team.
Now for the question everybody's asking. Can Lone Peak hold the Mountain Ridge offense in check?
If it can, Peak has a chance. If it can't, the season ends next week, no suspense. Mountain Ridge plays great defense too, so points are going to be rent money. Lone Peak's best shot is the same recipe it used Friday: keep it low, keep it ugly, grind it out.
That's easier typed than done. The Sentinels are a different animal. Mountain Ridge came in 10-0, sits 24th on the SPIN Power 100 and first on our Utah Top 10, and it showed why Friday with a 50-6 win over Cedar Valley. High-powered offense, and guys who can run at every position. I last saw them at Westlake, and they didn't have their A game, maybe not their B game either. They were still far from fragile. So pencil in a physical, hard-hitting game with a handful of explosive plays. The real question is who makes them.
Knights versus Sentinels. One side stands guard, the other has to storm the gate. Bring an umbrella and a calculator, and don't be shocked if the final looks like a typo.
