We said the flag was Corner Canyon's until somebody took it. On Friday night in Lehi, Skyridge took it.
Skyridge beat Corner Canyon 37-27 at home in front of a crowd that was loud from the first snap. The Falcons scored three touchdowns before the first quarter was over, two of them on interception returns, and led 27-0 before Corner Canyon got on the board. Ethan Schriever's pick six went 83 yards. Senior linebacker Sa Tanuvasa had two of Skyridge's five interceptions, and Beckham Bennett ran for two touchdowns. Corner Canyon won the second half. It never got close enough to win the game, because Skyridge's defense stopped it on fourth down three times. That is what a good team does in a game this big. It defends its home field, it starts fast, and it does not let go.
Skyridge moves up one to second. We are comfortable with it there. Nationally it jumps 20 places to 50th on the SPIN Power 100. It goes to Lone Peak on Friday.
The state runs through Mountain Ridge
Mountain Ridge beat Riverton 56-7, is 7-0, and moves to first. Jaxon Hunt threw seven touchdown passes, all of them in the first half. Mountain Ridge is the class of Utah right now, and it is 34th nationally. We did see some cracks in the Chaparral game, when the Sentinels gave up 41 points at Chaparral of Temecula. But until somebody beats them, there is no question who is No. 1 in Utah. This is a mature football team that looks hungry and looks destined for greatness.
Crosstown rival Herriman visits on Friday, and Herriman is known for playing great defense. Throw the records out. We expect a physical football game.
Skyridge has already played Mountain Ridge. It lost 41-26 in August, and the damage came in one bad half, the second, when Mountain Ridge ran the ball at will. Credit to the Sentinels for that. Skyridge has not played a half like it since. It is 6-1, it is on a heater, and if these two meet again, we would not want to call it.
This is not the Corner Canyon we knew
Corner Canyon falls two spots to third. It is still a good football team, 5-2 and third in the state. But this is not Eric Kjar's Corner Canyon, and it is not the national brand Utah has come to know. It is Casey Sutera's team, and it is young. Corner Canyon lost six first-team all-state players off last year's team. Two of them, Esun Tafa and Joaquin Rodriguez, were All-Americans, and quarterback Helaman Casuga was the Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year. It also lost Kjar, one of the best head coaches in high school football history, to Weber State. It is still a top 100 team. But this is a rebuilding year, and we aren't pretending it's not.
The question going into the season was the offense. The defense, we thought, would be fine under a defensive-minded head coach who used to run the defense here, with what we saw as an upgrade at coordinator, even without last year's elite personnel. That has held. The offense has not. In both losses it put its own defense in bad spots, and on Friday it threw five interceptions. That is Sutera's to fix, and we will see where it ends up. Corner Canyon falls from 25th to 75th on the Power 100. It plays Cedar Valley on Friday.
Lone Peak moves up after a loss
American Fork won 28-24 at Lone Peak on Thursday. American Fork earned it. Lone Peak went ahead 24-21 in the final minutes, and sophomore Jake Matsen drove the Cavemen right back and hit Cash Taiese for a 25-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left, Taiese's third of the night. It was the road team against a Lone Peak side coming off a 37-14 loss to Corner Canyon and playing a get-back game, and it ground that game out.
We believe the last play was a touchdown. Jaxon Cloward made a remarkable catch on the final play and, from our view of it, was in. Officials ruled him short of the goal line. We score that game as close to a wash, which is why Lone Peak moves up one to seventh and American Fork holds at sixth. Those two could trade places any week.
Two good 5A teams in the middle
Orem holds fourth after beating Timpview 17-14. The margin surprised us, but rivalry games are like that. West holds fifth at 7-0. It keeps winning the games in front of it the way a top team should, 55-6 over Hillcrest last week and 71-7 over Taylorsville on Thursday. Two very good 5A teams are sitting in the middle of this board.
Herriman drops to 10th
Herriman lost 22-20 to Lehi, which is not on this board. Lehi won it despite throwing three interceptions, one of them returned 63 yards for a touchdown by Herriman's Aden Perea. That is the result that costs the most, and Herriman falls three spots to 10th. Ridgeline beat Sky View 41-3 and is 7-0. Davis beat Syracuse 49-35 behind three touchdowns from Bode Sparrow, a senior Oklahoma commit. Both move up one.
| Rank | Team | Record | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mountain Ridge, Herriman | 7-0 | Up 1 |
| 2 | Skyridge, Lehi | 6-1 | Up 1 |
| 3 | Corner Canyon, Draper | 5-2 | Down 2 |
| 4 | Orem | 4-2 | Hold |
| 5 | West, Salt Lake City | 7-0 | Hold |
| 6 | American Fork | 6-1 | Hold |
| 7 | Lone Peak, Highland | 3-4 | Up 1 |
| 8 | Ridgeline, Millville | 7-0 | Up 1 |
| 9 | Davis, Kaysville | 4-3 | Up 1 |
| 10 | Herriman | 6-1 | Down 3 |
We are at the midway point of the season, and the state is wide open. Skyridge holds the region flag for now. Mountain Ridge is holding the state's, high and proud.
