Utah Valley High School Football Rewind: Spanish Fork looking to make history in 4A finals
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate after winning the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork sophomore Nixon Warren (10) goes up for a catch during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Lone Peak quarterback Kepa Niumietolu passes the ball against Skyridge in the 6A football semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Zaeden Selu of Skyridge (4) runs the football against Lone Peak in a 6A semifinal game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Timpview junior Jaron Pula runs the ball up the field during the 5A semifinal against Roy at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024.
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- Timpview defenders make a tackle during the 5A semifinal against Roy at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024.
While playing for a state championship is a regular occurrence for Lone Peak, it certainly is not for Spanish Fork.
The Don program is just making their second appearance in a state title game, the only other one being in the 3A title game in 2012 where they were defeated by Dixie. So on Thursday, this 2024 Spanish Fork team has a chance to make history and deliver a long awaited state title for its town.
It won’t be easy as the Dons take on Crimson Cliffs, the returning 4A champions who dispatched Sky View 38-29 in the other semifinal. Spanish Fork is definitely riding high as the No. 4 seed knocked off previously unbeaten No. 1 seed Ridgeline, 21-14. Still, Crimson Cliffs will be the favorite as the No. 3 seed.
Much like Ridgeline, Crimson Cliffs is a relatively new school that opened up in 2019 and more or less hit the ground running as a football program. Meanwhile, Spanish Fork has had more losing or mediocre seasons than winning ones in its near 100-year history as a school.
The Dons have been better in recent years and one of the reasons is Matt Christensen, now the lead principal at the school. Christensen was a former head coach for the program and is obviously ecstatic about this chance to make history.
“It means so much. Look at the community,” Christensen said, pointing to the crowd. “We’ll even have more people next week.”
It should be noted that the Spanish Fork crowd dwarfed the number of Ridgeline supporters. Beyond that, many ex-players are involved in the program.
“I look at this coaching staff and half of them are former Don players that want to give back to the community,” Christensen said. “That’s what makes it so fun.”
One thing that purists might enjoy about 4A football, and Spanish Fork in particular, is that the vast majority of their players live in the school’s boundaries and cut their teeth in the Don youth programs.
“They are all homegrown boys,” Christensen said with a smile. “That’s what fun. They have just been playing together since second and third grade.”
One astute thing Christensen did was hire current head coach Dustin Smith, who he had worked with in the youth programs. Smith was also an assistant coach at Spanish Fork and also coached in the Pleasant Grove and Woods Cross programs.
“When I was head coach, he was my quarterbacks coach,” Christensen said. “And when I became principal I definitely wanted Dustin (Smith), so I went after him and I’m so grateful we’ve had him. He’s done a fabulous job for us.”
Besides Smith’s coaching prowess, the Spanish Fork head coach has a son, McKay Smith, who has started as quarterback the last three years. And now this father-son duo, along with the rest of this 2024 Don team, is just one win away from the ultimate prize in high school football.
Special teams were critical in Lone Peak victory: Skyridge had 354 total yards while Lone Peak had 274. Still, the Knights won 28-21 to advance to the state championship.
Certainly, two Falcon turnovers were significant in the outcome but special teams play, including a 94-yard kickoff to paydirt by Landan Goff that quickly tied up the game at 7-7 after Skyridge took an early lead, had a huge impact.
Lone Peak has shown great ability to score with special teams all year long and Knight head coach Bart Brockbank felt that having this edge might get them over the hump against their rival.
“Special teams are big,” Brockbank said. “We feel all three facets of the game have to be clicking in order for you to win a state championship. You get great teams here and the offenses and defenses line up pretty good by the time you get to the state championship. And you need some special teams or some turnovers and stuff that will create that edge for you against great teams.”
Skyridge didn’t get any chances for long runbacks on its returns because Knight kicker Breckin Carr had five touchbacks. But besides Goff’s long TD return, the Knights had 138 return yards and started off their drives with better field position than the Falcons all game long.
Statistical Superlatives: There were a lot of great individual performances this past week whether teams won or fell short in their games.
Though Timpview (8-3) was defeated by Roy (12-1), 29-19, Luke Thornock booted three field goals including a 38-yarder. Jaron Pula had a huge game hauling in nine passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. And Taani Makasini was a beast on defense registering 15 tackles for the Thunderbirds.
Legend Glasker caught four touchdown passes for Lehi (9-3) as it fell just one point short, losing to the returning 6A state champs Corner Canyon 35-34 in overtime. Jett Niu tossed three of those and one came from wide receiver Mays Madsen on a well-executed trick play.
While Skyridge (10-3) fell short to its rival Lone Peak 28-21, Kanael Sweetwyne accounted for two touchdowns, one passing and one on the ground for the Falcons. Sweetwyne had 121 yards rushing on 19 carries while teammate Zaeden Selu added 54 yards. And on defense Boston Sorensen led the team with nine tackles.
As for Lone Peak, Sean Tahi had 13 carries for 115 yards before leaving the game at the end of the third quarter with an injury. Knight quarterback Kepa Niumeitolu had two touchdowns passing and one on the ground. Meanwhile, Landan Goff had a 94-yard kickoff return for a score and an interception to boot.
Spanish Fork (11-2) was led by Brock Jacobson who from his wildcat formation tossed a touchdown to Jacob Johnson while running in a 9-yarder that was the difference maker as the Dons downed previously unbeaten Ridgeline (12-1), 21-14. Kaden Vest, who leads the state in rushing yards, had an even 100 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.
Jacobson also had nine tackles on defense while he got plenty of help from Cael Cabreros and Kai Roberts with 13 and 11 tackles respectively. Gage Christensen had six tackles and a big interception as well as the Don defense suffocated the Riverhawks, especially in the second half.
6A State Title Game: No. 2 Seed Lone Peak (11-2) vs. No. 1 Corner Canyon (12-1) Thursday at 2:30 p.m.: Corner Canyon is a bit vulnerable as quarterback Helaman Casuga is banged up and didn’t play in the semifinals. Back-up Bronson Evans did an excellent job for the Chargers tossing for four touchdowns.
Lone Peak gave Corner Canyon its only loss defeating the Chargers in week three, 28-21. Lone Peak is better defensively allowing 247 points while Corner Canyon has allowed 284. Corner Canyon’s offense has been a bit more prolific scoring 554 while Lone Peak has pointed 422. But the Knights have played stiffer competition generally being in Region 3 that produced three of the four 6A semifinalists.
One concern for Lone Peak is the health of running back Sean Tahi who left the semifinal game with Skyridge late in the third quarter. This looks like another barn burner and a key turnover or big special teams play could determine the outcome.
4A State Title Game: No. 4 seed Spanish Fork (11-2) vs. No. 3 Crimson Cliffs (11-2) Thursday at 6 p.m.: Crimson Cliffs is making its second straight appearance in the title game taking the title last year. Both have one common opponent in Sky View, the Dons beating the Bobcats 47-28 and Crimson Cliffs downing Sky View 39-28 last week to punch its ticket to the championship game.
The Dons have scored 539 and allowed 312 while the Mustangs have outscored its opponents 410-278. One advantage for Crimson Cliffs is obviously experience in a title game, but the Dons have a lot of senior experience and a community extra hungry for victory. Much like the game with Ridgeline, if the Dons can avoid a slow start, their confidence should grow with that huge community support behind them.
5A State Title Game: No. 2 seed Bountiful (12-1) vs. No. 1 Roy (12-1) Thursday at 11 a.m.: Utah County was denied another team in a championship final when Roy defeated Timpview 29-19. This game is a rematch between these two Region 5 rivals and actually No. 2 seed Bountiful won 42-35. Besides winning that game, Bountiful went on the road to do it. But Roy, having just beaten perennial powerhouse Timpview last week, won’t be lacking swagger in this rematch.
Extra points: Ole Miss quarterback Jaxon Dart, who prepped at Roy and Corner Canyon, made an appearance at the semifinal game between Corner Canyon and Lehi. Dart’s brother Diesel, just a sophomore, plays for the Chargers. Jaxon Dart is having a great year for the Rebels breaking a record previously held by Archie Manning for total yards in a game with 562. He is also set to break Manning’s son Eli for most yards passing in a career at Ole Miss … Roy’s Colby Frokjer had a game for the ages kicking the ball for the Royals. He had three field goals including a 58-yarder. He became the first kicker in Utah history to kick two field goals of 50 yards plus in a playoff game as he split the uprights from 53 yards to give Roy a 29-19 lead late in the game. Frokjer also had a 38-yarder in the second quarter … Rich, Beaver, and San Juan were able to defend their 8-man, 1A and 2A titles respectively in their championship games Saturday at SUU. For San Juan it was their fourth straight title and third in a row for Beaver … Morgan snapped Richfield’s 25-game winning streak as the Trojans defeated the Wildcats 13-2 to win the 3A title. Morgan finished as the only undefeated team in the state with a 13-0 record … Going into the final week of the season Utah County teams hold a 62-42 edge over teams outside the valley … And one last reminder, because the University of Utah has a home football game this week, the 4A, 5A and 6A championship games will be played on Thursday.
