True grit: Skyridge digs deep to gut out a thrilling 35-34 comeback win over Herriman
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- Skyridge’s Jaden Tahi celebrates after his team’s final defensive stop during Thursday’s 35-34 semifinal win over Herriman. November 12, 2026
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- Skyridge defenders, including Jaden Tahi and Trevor Davies combine for a tackle during 6A semifinal action on Thursday. November 12, 2026
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- Skyridge quarterback Jagger Fountaine scrambles out of the pocket for a big gainer during semifinal action versus Herriman on Thursday. November 12, 2026
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- Skyridge receiver Malosi Shepard tosses the football to the official after a touchdown reception during Thursday’s 35-34 semifinal win over Herriman. November 12, 2026
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- Skyrdige defensive back Crew Stevens celebrates a key defensive stop versus Herriman on Thursday. November 12, 2026
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- Skyridge quarterback Jagger Fountaine crosses the goal line for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown during his team’s win over Herriman. November 12, 2026
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- Jagger Fountaine celebrates his game-winning touchdown run with teammates during semifinal action versus Herriman on Thursday. November 12, 2026
If Skyridge and its quarterback Jagger Fountaine acted as if they’d been there before, it’s simply because they have.
Trailing throughout Thursday’s 6A semifinal matchup with Herriman, the Falcons gritted out the type of both offensive and defensive efforts that have defined the team throughout their remarkable march to the state championship with a 35-34 win over the Mustangs.
“It takes a team effort and I feel like we’re able to do that today and just that grit is something special throughout us. It’s who we are,” said Skyridge linebacker Rex Caswell. “Our goal at the beginning of the year and we have one more game to go. It feels amazing to now have that opportunity.”
“It feels great. I’m lucky to be in this position, and it feels kind of surreal,” Fountaine added. “I’ve always dreamed about this since I was a kid, coming to watch games here at Rice-Eccles when Skyridge played, and now I get the opportunity to play. I’m so excited.”
To get to the 6A championship venue, the Falcons had to overcome a lot of adversity, which included two costly turnovers that found them trailing 34-28 with 6:26 remaining on the clock and a full 80 yards to go for a touchdown. Enter Fountaine, cool and collected, much as he has throughout the season as he chewed up the yardage on a 12-play drive that took four minutes off the clock.
The senior signal-caller converted a couple of 3rd-and-long situations on that final Skyridge drive, on top of a critical 4th-down conversion by using both his feet and his arm to frustrate the Mustang defense. Fountaine finished things off with a 2-yard plunge into the endzone for proved to be the game-winning score.
“As a quarterback, you can’t get too high, can’t get too low,” Fountaine said. “We got to that fourth down, and just (had) confidence in the play-calling that Coach (Justin) Hemm called, and then confidence that my guys are going to make a play. And sure enough, we got it and continued to drive down the field. All lines made some big plays and ended up pushing it into the end zone.”
But things weren’t wrapped up at that point and not by a long shot.
On the ensuing kickoff Skyridge yielded a long return that set up the Mustangs with 1st-and-10 from the Skyridge 20 yard line and seemingly poised to pull off a remarkable comeback of their own with running back Filisi Filipe, who had accumulated an astounding 240 yards rushing on 37 carries at that point, leading the charge. But the Falcon defense bucked up, despite being down several starters due to injury, to hold Filipe to just five yards gained on three attempts. Then, with just 1:23 remaining, Herriman’s kick went wide right, allowing Fountaine and the offense to run out the clock for the win.
“I think it just comes down to the mental preparation that we have done,” Caswell said of the defensive stand. “I have immense trust in everyone who comes in. If it’s the sophomores on the d-line, or anyone else. We hold each other to an equal standard. If they’re a starter, if they’re a special teams guy or if they’re a scout team guy. It takes everyone to do their part, and that’s what we had today. It was a team win, much like it has been all season.”
Indeed Skyridge has put itself through quite the refiner’s fire since the very first week of the season, which was a 41-26 loss to Mountain Ridge. The Falcons haven’t lost since, although that’s not to suggest the run the 6A state championship has been even close to being easy.
“I think there’s not a situation uh that we haven’t experienced, right?,” Hemm said. “And I think (being in that) pressure (that) we’re not feeling restricted by it. I think the boys embrace it, they want it, and they welcome it. And ultimately, like when we need them the most, they’ve performed the best.”
At his best throughout Thursday’s game was certainly Fountaine, who finished with 20-34 passing for 367 yards and two touchdowns on top of 52 yards rushing for another two touchdowns.
“He’s the ultimate competitor, and there’s something special about him that inspires belief within his team,” Hemm said. “The competitive mentality that he has makes him a tremendous leader for this team.”
Fountaine’s first touchdown came by way of a 10-yard run into the endzone to tie things up a 7-7 late in the first quarter. Following a 2-yard run by Ului Faletau, Herriman answered with consecutive touchdowns to go into the locker room up 21-14 after being the beneficiary of a late Skyridge turnover.
Fountaine and company looked to square things up on the initial second half possession before a mishandled handoff in the backfield turned the ball over to Herriman inside the 10 yard line. The Mustangs then drove almost the entire length of the field before Skyridge buckled up in the redzone and forced a field goal to go down just 24-14.
Skyridge then managed touchdowns on its final three possessions with a 57-yard Fountaine pass to Trey Harper and then a 29-yard scoring pass to Malosi Shepard to set up Fountaine’s final touchdown run with just over two minutes remaining.
Following the postgame celebration and subsequent interviews, Skyridge players exuded a lot of emotion, but also a determined focus to finish out the team’s ultimate goal of a team championship.
“We’ve been focused since January on this and we have to keep that focus more than ever for the next week,” Caswell said. “And it’s taken everyone. It hasn’t been easy, but we’re here, and it feels amazing to have this opportunity. I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates — every single one of them who got us to this moment, but we’re not done. We have to get to work and finish off this thing like we know we can and like we knew we could clear back in January.”
