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Long-time Utah Valley prep football coach Bobby Kauo, right, poses for a photo with former Provo High assistant Brian E. Preece. (Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald)

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Springville's Treyton Harris runs the ball against Alta in a high school football game on Friday, August 14, 2026. (Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald)

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Every football season begins with excitement and belief.

Even if your school has struggled for years, there is always that hope that this new upcoming season will be different. For some teams, there is more of a sense of urgency to pocket wins early in the season as their league schedules are daunting.

So it is arguable that the 20-19 win Payson earned against Mountain View was a bigger victory for the Lions program then it would have been for Mountain View. Payson now has a road game against Juab, who has been a 3A power in recent years, though the Wasps did lose to 2A Delta in its 2026 opener 29-26. In Week 3, Payson hosts Kearns, which is likely to be on a 10-game losing streak at that point. This gives the Lions a great chance to go into its Region 7 opener with Timpview with a 3-0 record.

For Mountain View, being in 4A Region 8 is no cakewalk. But the Bruins schedule is a bit easier and they should get wins in their next two games versus Tooele and Union as well with league games with Uintah and new school Deer Creek.

In the era of the RPI where every game has equal value of importance, Payson definitely got a big one to open its 2026 gridiron campaign when it edged Mountain View.

New coaches get big dramatic wins

Payson’s Mike Cole and American Leadership Academy’s (ALA) Joe DuPaix each won their coaching debuts in exciting fashion. Payson held off Mountain View 20-19, while ALA earned a thrilling double overtime victory over Carbon 23-21 with a 2-yard run by Mason Ober.

The amazing Bobby Kauo

At the spry age of 88, Bobby Kauo is still out there giving out his wisdom to players and young coaches alike. Kauo is an assistant coach at Mountain View and his love for the game and others is truly infectious. Kauo has coached at a lot of schools in the valley including Timpview, Provo, Mountain View and he was once the head coach of ALA at the age of 75.

Timpanogos wins by new mercy rule

The Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) has instituted a new rule to end a game if any team is ahead by 44 or more points at the end of the third quarter or goes ahead by 44 or more points in the fourth quarter.

Timpanogos beat Juan Diego 44-0, ending the game after three quarters to become the first Utah County team to win via this route.

The Timberwolves actually led just 3-0 after the first quarter but then exploded for 28 points in the second stanza as Ian Longhurst caught two touchdown passes from Logan Holloway. Holloway also connected with Zack McCann for a score before running one in from one-yard away. Ahead 31-0, the Timberwolves added two more scores with another Holloway run and then a 1-yard plunge by Tyson Knapp that provided the final margin of victory.

Holloway accounted for six touchdowns for the Timberwolves and Luke Bergin was 5-for-6 in his extra points while adding a short 17-yard field goal. The Timberwolf victory gave head coach Nolan Nielsen a win in his coaching debut.

Speaking of this new mercy rule, if it was applied last year nearly one out of five games (19%) would have ended early. The other rule that the running clock is used in the second half of a game if a team is ahead 35 or more points is also still in use. The worst blowout in Week 1 was North Sanpete extending Cottonwood’s losing streak to 20 games with a 57-0 win. The Hawks led 50-0 at halftime.

Deer Creek loses in debut

New Wasatch County school Deer Creek had a rough opener and the Riverhawk faithful didn’t even get to see their team play four quarters of football as Mountain Crest beat the home team 49-0 with the new mercy rule going into effect. In Week 2, Deer Creek will visit 5A Hillcrest which was also blanked in its game against Desert Hills, 40-0.

Something had to give

North Sevier’s 10-game losing skid came to an end when the 1A school topped 3A Ben Lomond 41-33. The Scots have now lost 22 games in a row. Another long losing streak (16 games) also came to an end when Grand County, now playing 8-man football but ineligible for the state playoffs, beat Water Canyon 53-38.

Deseret Peak still looking for first win

Box Elder defeated Deseret Peak 49-0 with the new mercy rule coming into effect in the final quarter. The Golden Eagles, in their second year of existence, have now lost 11 straight.

Winning streaks continued

Ridgeline and Cedar City extended their winning streaks to 15 and 14 games respectively, while Orem won its 12th straight game to lead Utah County programs.

Big Game of Week

Two rival schools less than five miles apart battle when Spanish Fork (0-1) hosts Salem Hills (1-0) on Friday.

Spanish Fork competes in 5A and Salem Hills in 4A and this is why this game takes place so early in the season. Both offenses clicked last week. Spanish Fork lost a three overtime thriller at Snow Canyon 64-62 as both teams were tied 42-42 after regulation. Dons senior receiver Nixon Warren had a monster game with 10 catches or 267 yards and five touchdowns in the loss.

As for Salem Hills, the Skyhawks had no issues in their home opener, beating Granger 41-7. With a brand new coach in Brock Condie, Spanish Fork is a bit of an enigma at this point though there were enough good things last week to give the Don faithful hope. For Salem Hills fans, there are big expectations with a lot of returning talent and so far so good.

Another Big Game of the Week

Orem (1-0) will have to fight off some jet lag as the Tigers traveled to the big island of Hawai’i last Friday to knock off Kamehameha 16-7. In Week 2 the Tigers take on 6A Skyridge (0-1) which was torched by Mountain Ridge 41-26 in its Thursday opener. Orem is the defending 5A champs but in recent years the Tigers have struggled to get wins when they have scheduled 6A Region 3 juggernauts like the Falcons.

Yet another Big Game of the Week

No. 3: Utah Military Academy Camp Williams (UMACW) got a nice 27-22 win at Panguitch to open its 2026 gridiron campaign. In Weel 2 UMACW (1-0) will host Monticello (0-0), a very consistent winning program since 8-man football was instituted by the UHSAA. The Marauders do have a couple of advantages as Monticello will have to take that long bus ride up north, and it’s also the first game of the season for the Buckaroos. Yes, Monticello will be the favorite but a big chance for an upset is there for UMACW, though it will take a very focused effort.

Extra points: The 64-62 Snow Canyon three overtime victory over Spanish Fork was the highest scoring game in the first week of prep football. Altamont did beat St. Joseph in the typical higher-scoring 8-man football, 52-49, though this game did not need any extra time. Richfield did break the 60-point barrier with its 62-20 win over Dixie …  4A Region 10 had a horrible week. Only Murray won a game and Cottonwood, East, Jordan and Juan Diego all were shut out …  Speaking of East, the Leopards were blanked by Tafuna American Samoa 46-0 with another game that was ended by the new mercy rule …  Most Utah Valley teams played teams outside of the county and did well generally, going 8-5 in those games.

Friday Night Heroes