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Lone Peak players celebrate with fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City after winning the 6A state football championship on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak players pose with the 6A state football championship trophy after beating Corner Canyon 49-42 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Takeao Hansen (right) is congratulated on the sidelines after intercepting a Corner Canyon pass late in the fourth quarter of the 6A state football championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Mason Pantane, right, celebrates winning the 6A state championship game with a teammate at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Crew McChesney (left) is checked out by a trainer after scoring what proved to be the game-winning touchdown against Corner Canyon in the 6A state football championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak coach Bart Brockbank (center) is doused with water from a Powerade container after the Knights claimed the 6A state football championship with a 49-42 victory against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak football fans celebrate winning the 6A state championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak quarterback Easton Comer (right) consoles a Corner Canyon player after winning the 6A state football championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Joe Brown (79) lifts a teammate into the air after the Knights defeated Corner Canyon 49-42 for the 6A state football championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Luke Hyde (2) consoles Corner Canyon's Jett Meine at the conclusion of the 6A state football championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Dallin Moore (23) and Mason Patane close in on Corner Canyon wide receiver Jett Meine during the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Spencer Fotu (7) and two teammates swarm to Corner Canyon's Hale Quinn during the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak defensive coordinator Ryan Denney (center) talks with fellow coaches during the 6A state championship game against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak fans cheer from the stands during the 6A state championships against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Jaxson Willits (34) breaks into the Corner Canyon secondary during the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Crew McChesney (white) scores a touchdown against Corner Canyon in the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Two Lone Peak football fans discuss the action on the field in the 6A football state championship game against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak quarterback Easton Comer (left) talks to a coach after throwing a touchdown pass in the 6A state championship game against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Luke Durfey (5) has a hole to the end zone against Corner Canyon in the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak's Savea Fitisemanu (37) congratulates teammate Luke Durfey after Durfey scored a touchdown in the 6A state championship game against Corner Canyon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald)

❮ ❯

In big moments in big games, sometimes time just seems to stop altogether.

No. 2-seeded Lone Peak had a trio of those in the final minutes of Friday’s thrilling battle of Region 4 behemoths against No. 1-seeded Corner Canyon in the 6A state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

The Knights needed monumental, heart-stopping plays from senior quarterback Easton Comer, junior wide receiver Crew McChesney, senior safety Dallin Moore, senior safety Takeao Hansen, senior running back Jaxson Willits and the entire Lone Peak offensive line — but all those pieces came together to make a masterpiece as Lone Peak outlasted the Chargers, 49-42, to win the 6A crown.

“It was amazing,” Hansen said. “I’ve been looking forward to this game for my whole senior year. It was a dream come true.”

Here are the moments that those Knight players will always remember:

The first came with the shootout tied at 42-42 and just two-and-a-half minutes left in the game. The Knights faced a third-and-10 from the Corner Canyon 41-yard line.

Comer dropped back, scanned the field, and spotted McChesney running deep. He lofted it up, a pass that seemed to take forever to come down.

“When I caught that ball, I looked to see if anyone was around me,” McChesney said. “I was like, nope, I can score. It was the best feeling ever. It was awesome.”

His 41-yard score put Lone Peak up by seven and put the Knights in the driver’s seat.

Corner Canyon, however, has a high-powered offense and had enjoyed a lot of success throughout the game.

“We knew they were going to bring it to us,” Willits said. “We had 100% respect for them. We just played the best we could and took advantage of opportunities.”

Charger senior quarterback Devin Brown went right to the air and thought he had a receiver in good position for a deep pass of his own.

While that worked many times throughout the game, this time the Knights were in the right places to make a play.

“We were in a deep Cover-3,” Hansen said. “Dallin Moore went up and had a great defensive play, tipping the ball up. I was able to see it and make an easy catch for the interception.”

On the sidelines, however, Lone Peak head coach Bart Brockbank said it felt like that tipped pass was  never going to come down.

“It went in slow motion,” Brockbank said. “The ball was in the air for like 14 seconds. Then he came down with it and the crowd erupted. It was just surreal.”

He said it was even more special for Hansen to make that play, since he got hurt in the 2020 semifinals and wasn’t able to play in the title game last season.

“He was so excited to play after missing last year,” Brockbank said. “I think a lot of teams know about him and try to throw away from him, but he just stuck with it. I’m so proud of him. He’s such a great player.”

Hansen said it was brutal to not be on the field for the loss to the Chargers last year but it fueled him since then.

“It was heartbreaking because playing in a state championship is every high-school kid’s dream,” Hansen said. “Being able to play here is just special. Then going out and winning it, makes it so much better.”

That pick set the stage for the final nail-biting moment, one that was arguably both the most intense and had the absolute smallest margin of success.

With two minutes on the clock and Corner Canyon having two timeouts, the Knights knew that one first down would seal the victory.

Two running plays by Willits gained six yards and burned the Charger timeouts, setting up a game-deciding third-and-4. Brockbank said there was never any question that they were going to go to their star running back once again.

“It was really an adrenaline rush for me, knowing we needed four yards for the first down,” Willits said. “I knew I had to hang onto the ball. I just tried to push as hard as I could.”

Thanks to good blocking from the offensive line he powered down the field to right at the yard stick, forcing a measurement to see if he got enough yards.

“If we get the first down, we win,” Willits said. “It took forever. That one second before they called it, your heart just stops. Then they called it and everyone went crazy.”

Brockbank said the Knights were planning to go for it on fourth down but when the signal came — by barely the very nose of the football — it was a sudden sense of calmness, knowing it was over.

“Your heart feels like it is going 1,000 miles an hour,” Brockbank said. “As soon as I saw the first down, I knew we could kneel it out. I was so amped up the entire game and then all of a sudden everything got calm. It was like, OK, we did it.”

He said he felt his Lone Peak players showed once again just how resilient they are, taking every haymaker Corner Canyon could throw and still finding a way to come out on top.

“They are so confident and they do whatever it takes to win,” Brockbank said. “The offense really had to step up this week, while it was the defense last week. They just do what it takes.”

As he looked at his celebrating players, he got a big smile on his face.

“I’m so proud of them,” Brockbank said. “I love them. They were told they can’t beat Corner Canyon twice or they couldn’t do this or that. They just don’t believe in can’t. They are so positive. They rarely ever get down. They just kept fighting.”

Willits said he couldn’t imagine doing it with any other group of guys.

“It’s nice to have them all here,” Willits said. “Any little mistakes, they pick you up. I’m especially proud of my offensive line, because without them we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. I’m just so grateful to be a part of this team.”

Hansen said: “It mean’s the world to have won together. This is the last high school game for a lot of these guys. It’s amazing.”

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