State Football Finals Notebook: Red Devils great season comes to an end
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- Springville’s Tua Naufahu carries the ball against Orem in the 5A football state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
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- Springville’s Zach Henderson tries to pull in a pass against Orem in the 5A football state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
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- Lone Peak’s Kennan Pula (3) tackles Corner Canyon quarterback Helaman Casuga in the 6A football championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
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- Orem’s Beckham Curtis heads to the end zone on a 26-yard touchdown against Springville in the 5A football state championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
SALT LAKE CITY — Springville’s only loss coming into the 5A state final against Orem was those same Tigers on Sept. 8, a hard-fought 17-14 decision.
The second meeting was all Orem on Thursday at Rice–Eccles Stadium, a 42-7 triumph.
“I mean, they’re a good team,” Red Devils coach Dave Valeti said. “We didn’t play to our level. And to beat a team like that, you got to play a good game, a clean game, and we didn’t. I felt like we just kept looking for that big play, that momentum buster and momentum starter, and never quite got it. We never really could get going. Against a team like that, with the athletes they have, you’ve go to get on a momentum run. And that’s how you have a chance.”
Springville (12-2) failed to put up points on two good scoring opportunities in the first half and fell victim to three big scoring plays by Orem’s Aisa Galea’i, who had a 60-yard run, a 78-yard interception return and a 96-yard kickoff return for touchdowns.
Valeti said it was tough for the players to realize the great journey they’d been on this season after the loss in the final.
“They all grew up together,” Valeti said. “That’s not a slight to Orem, but it’s no secret that they’re not all Orem kids. What I’m proud of is these boys stuck together. Many of them had chances to go to a bigger school and go and do that, and they chose to stick together and do something special. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but I think they did something pretty special.
“They had an amazing run, and we had an amazing team. To be up here, it’s fun, but we didn’t reach our ultimate goal. And that’s a lesson in itself. Where do you go from here? How do you pick yourself up? I couldn’t be more proud of our boys and of our town. You heard our section. Orem’s up 35-7 and they’re cheering like we’re winning. That’s why we do this.”
Springville’s lone state championship remains from 1985, with state finals losses in 2025, 2-21, 2016, 2009 and 1954.
It takes a village
Lance Reynolds Jr. won a state title in his fourth season as head man at Orem and he knows he doesn’t get there on his own.
“As a head coach you can’t teach all of them or get out to everybody,” Renolds said. “You have to have a good staff and I think this year we have an incredible staff. Josh Arnold is our defensive coordinator. I love his scheme and even more than that how he interacts with the players. Then Mike Hixson, he was a quarterback coach at Orem for a long time and when I became head coach, I wanted him to be the offensive coordinator.”
Reynolds said he added a couple of former Maple Mountain staffers in Bingo Fano and Junior Ione to coach cornerbacks and the defensive line, respectively.
“They are great all the way across the board,” Reynolds said. “The are both very competent and have a high IQ.”
Reynolds also connected with former BYU cornerback Tim McTyer.
“I saw on social media that he was moving to Utah and wanted to keep coaching,” Reynolds said. “I didn’t know him that well personally but he’s been a great addition to our secondary.”
Reynolds added the state gives him six stipends to distribute and that many of his assistants are volunteers.
“I have a quarterback guy, a running back and a receivers guy,” he said. “I have three offensive line guys because none of them can be at practice all time time. My brother Dallas has been here since the beginning. Then we have (former BYU offensive lineman) Brian Saunders and Haden Hixson, Mike’s son. I have an offensive coordinator, a defensive coordinator, a defensive line guy and two secondary guys.
“I can’t pay them all. I give them like a t-shirt and a hat. The bottom line is that all of us do this because we love the game and we love the kids.”
Getting to the top
Lone Peak, which lost to Corner Canyon 35-20 in the 6A final, had an incredibly up-and-down season.
The Knights started 3-0 and despite a loss to national powerhouse Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 35-14, moved to 5-1 with dominating 42-21 victory against Corner Canyon on Sept. 19.
Lone Peak promptly lost three in a row to American Fork (31-28), Skyridge (37-34) and Lehi (34-6) before making a playoff run to the 6A final.
Quarterback Kepa Niumeitolu missed first two games from suspension served after being ejected from state championship game, returned and was injured, then made it back to lead his team into the 6A final.
Bingham cancelled its scheduled game with Lone Peak for the final week of the regular season, so the Knights didn’t play a game between the 34-6 loss to Lehi on Oct. 9 and its second round playoff game against Farmington on Oct. 31.
Lone Peak coach Bart Brockbank told the Daily Herald’s Brandon Gurney that the Knights basically ran a training camp over that three-week period similar to the leadup to the start of the season.
The approach worked as Lone Peak defeated Farmington 41-14, upset No. 2 Davis 41-38 and earned a 13-7 revenge win against Skyridge to make the state finals.
The Knights are 3-7 in state finals and after missing the state playoffs in the school’s first year of existence (1997), have been a playoff fixture ever since.
