Utah Valley High School Football Rewind: Gridiron success significance tempered by national hurricane impact
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- ALA line up to run a play with the Leland Mills animal feed mill in the background during the 2A North game against Providence Hall in Spanish Fork on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
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- Orem’s Stephen Schow reaches to down a punt in a high school football game against Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Derek Morehouse (2) evades a tackler in a high school football game against Orem on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
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- Lehi defenders make a tackle during the Region 3 game at Skyridge on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 .
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- Skyridge senior running back Zaeden Selu runs the ball up the field during the Region 3 game against Lehi at Skyridge on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.
Week 7 provided stirring victories, sparkling individual performances, and shake ups in the region standing and RPI rankings.
Even with that said, millions of people in the southeastern part of the United States are dealing with more serious issues dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, one of the most devastating events in U.S. weather history.
Call to action: Many of you reading this might have family and friends impacted by Hurricane Helene. It is encouraged here (for everyone) to consider putting thoughts and prayers into action to help those in the southeastern United States as they battle to put their lives back together.
Plenty of reputable charities are set up to help victims and upcoming prep football games will assuredly participate in these efforts. And soon enough, gridiron contests will return to these communities giving people a few hours refuge from this daunting task of rebuilding.
Leland Mills provides a great backdrop for ALA football: There are so many great settings for Utah prep football but Leland Mills, which produces livestock animal feed, is a dominant feature at the American Leadership Academy (ALA) football complex with its mill just beyond the north end zone.
A tale of two quarters: American Fork (2-5, 0-2) came out strong in its rivalry game with Lone Peak (6-1, 2-0) scoring the first 14 points as David Gaisford had two touchdown passes. But then the Knights rolled to 35 points in the second quarter as Sean Tahi had three touchdown runs while Kepa Niumeitolo had two touchdown passes. Tahi then added another second half scoring run while Niumeitolo had another touchdown toss as both teams scored 14 points in the second half. Will Meine did have three touchdown catches for the Cavemen in the loss.
Skyridge defense delivers: Skyridge held off Lehi (5-1, 1-1), 20-16 Thursday night to move to 5-2 on its season and 2-0 in the Region 3 standings.
The Falcon defense was stellar, particularly the Falcon front seven led by the likes of De’Shawn Toilolo, Samuel Pollman, Iakopo Malufao, Griffin Kunz, Veni Tokalau, and Mason Oeser.
One particular play showed their dominant play when Toilolo and Oeser chased Lehi quarterback Jett Niu nearly 25 yards behind the original line of scrimmage before the Pioneer signal caller stumbled for a substantial loss. Oeser had a strip sack and fumble recovery and Tokalau completely plugged up the middle on a Skyridge goal line stand.
The crowd for this game was immense. Both sidelines were packed with people as were the bleachers, but as the stadium fits in a bowl, much of the crowd took to the grassy hills in each end zone. The crowd was easily five figures in size.
In fact, it wouldn’t be shocking if the attendance was even greater than the Army vs. Temple game that was played in Philadelphia and drew 13,255 fans for its Thursday night contest televised by ESPN. Football is certainly king in northern Utah Country and expect a similar size crowd for the upcoming contest between Skyridge and Lone Peak.
Two pick-sixes help Provo blitz Payson: The last time these two teams met, Payson (1-6, 0-3) used two defensive touchdowns to stun Provo (4-2, 3-0) in the 2023 4A playoffs. But the Bulldogs turned the tables Friday night as Bryant Larsen had two interception returns for touchdowns of 35 and 17 yards to help Provo beat Payson 47-20 in 4A Region 8 play.
Twin brothers Griffin and Crew Martini also had big games hauling in three touchdown passes from Gehrig Orchard to help the Bulldog cause. Griffin had the first two scores of the game as Provo rolled out to a 40-7 lead at halftime. David Fullmer did score twice for the Lions in the loss.
No more unbeaten high school teams in Utah Valley: Lehi and Maple Mountain both tasted defeat for the first time this season. Only Lone Peak remains unbeaten against Utah competition as the Knights did drop a contest to Corona, California.
The remaining undefeated teams in the state are 5A Roy, 4A Ridgeline, and two teams in 3A with Morgan and Richfield, along with 1A North Summit who beat previously undefeated Beaver Friday night, 16-14, in a five overtime thriller.
Statistical Superlatives: Kannon Huntsman, one of the leading scorers in the state, crossed the goal line five times as ALA (4-3, 1-1) crushed Providence Hall (0-7, 0-2), 56-7. Nico Marble had two touchdown passes while adding a scoring run to help the Eagles light up the scoreboard.
Westlake (2-5, 1-1) picked up its second win of the season, downing Pleasant Grove (1-6, 0-2) 31-20 thanks to three scoring runs by Dreyson Afuvai. Wade Christiansen had two touchdowns on the ground for the Vikings in the loss.
Jonathan Zafra kicked two field goals of 27 and 25 points along with hitting two extra points as Springville (5-2, 2-1) beat Wasatch (1-6, 0-3) 20-6 in 5A Region 7 action. Easton Leavitt had two touchdown passes, one of which covered 78 yards to teammate Jack Pickering to help the Red Devils pick up an important win in 5A Region 7.
Timpview (3-2, 2-0) routed Cedar Valley (2-5, 0-3) 40-10 as Carson Rasmussen had three touchdown tosses including two to Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio. Dennis Tua’one electrified the home faithful with a 80-yard punt return to paydirt as the Thunderbirds built up a 40-0 halftime lead.
Andrew Hillstead lit up the Mountain View (3-4, 1-2) secondary for five touchdown passes as Timpanogos (5-2, 2-1) defeated the Bruins, 34-24. Gabriel Graf caught two of Hillstead’s scoring tosses. Kalvin Floyd played well for the Bruins in the loss hauling in two touchdown passes from Hyrum Stafford while also kicking a 41-yard field goal.
Spanish Fork (6-1, 3-0) traveled north and got a big win against West Field (1-6), a new 4A school in north Ogden. Kaden Vest had four touchdown runs including one of 63 yards to pace the Don attack. But Vest’s run wasn’t the longest score for Spanish Fork as Brock Jacobson scored on a 78-yard kickoff return as Spanish Fork was an unpleasant guest in this non-league affair.
Big Game of the Week No. 1: It’s not that Lehi is out of the 6A Region 3 race, but the game that will take center stage this week is when Lone Peak will host Skyridge. This is another great rivalry that should pack in a huge crowd.
The winner of this game will move to 3-0 in league play and should improve their RPI to no worse than No. 2 in 6A and perhaps the top spot. Both teams are led by their defenses so expect a hard-hitting, low-scoring contest that should come down to the last possession.
Big Game of the Week No. 2: Provo will host Spanish Fork in a game that will likely decide the 4A Region 8 title. The last three games between these programs have come down to the final possession and this looks like it should be another barn burner that will have each side’s faithful biting their nails.
Big Game of the Week No. 3: Maple Mountain dropped its game with Orem while Springville has won two straight in 5A Region 7 play. Maple Mountain will get the game at home but both programs will fill the bleachers with fans. Technically, the winner still has a shot for a piece of the league title while the loser will be left with no hope to lift the trophy.
Bonus Big Game: Two brand new programs in the gridiron wars this season are the two Utah Military Academy Schools. The Camp Williams campus in Lehi will visit the Hill Field campus. Both programs play 8-player football and will be looking for their first win in program history.
If you want a barometer to tell you what might happen, both teams have played St. Joseph with the UMA Camp Williams losing to the Jayhawks 69-6, while UMA Hillfield was dominated as well, losing 77-18.
So basically, who knows what will happen? This game will be played Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Extra points: 3A Richfield (7-0) has now won 20 games in a row but will face its stiffest test of the season when the Wildcats host Manti (6-1). Richfield beat Manti last season in the 3A title game …While five teams remain unbeaten, nine teams are still looking for their first win. Some of this will get worked out as Cyprus and Kearns will battle in 5A Region 4 and Cottonwood and Hillcrest will match up in 4A Region 10. Three teams in the 8-player division remain winless in Monument Valley, UMA-Camp Williams and UMA-Hillfield. The two military academies will meet this Thursday. UMA-Camp Williams will also play Monument Valley … The Utah School for the Deaf and Blind is scheduled to have its first game against a school for the deaf and blind in Nebraska but it is unknown whether the Eagles will actually field a team this year … Utah County teams went 3-1 in games outside the valley to improve to 43-28 overall.
