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Herriman • Less than a month ago, in the final week of the regular season, Lone Peak's football team walked off the Herriman High field with a convincing 30-0 victory and the Region 4 title.
A team could react to a loss like that by giving up or analyzing what went wrong and fighting back.
Herriman chose the latter.
"Leading up to that game, we thought we were really good," Mustangs senior middle linebacker Matt Everton said, as his team prepared for a second chance at Lone Peak — this time, in Friday's Class 5A championship game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. "We started slacking off at practice, thinking we were the best. It was a really big wake-up call."
Herriman certainly woke up.
The Mustangs have outscored Brighton, Fremont and Sky View by a combined 114-37 in three state tournament games, earning the school's first trip to the title football game in the process.
They have gotten a little healthier, with players such as cornerback Tanner Rosenham and running back Brig Rush healthy. Junior running back Jake Jutkins has stepped up, combining with bruising fullback Kaden Strasters. The Mustangs and quarterback Hayden Reynolds have even started to pass a bit more, something the run-oriented team doesn't often do.
Herriman coach Dustin Pearce said his team has been practicing hard and showing resiliency.
"We've had some moments throughout the year to have a gut check," said Pearce, whose team opened the season 0-2 with close losses to Bingham and Brighton. "The kids responded to everything we put in front of them. In summer training and summer workouts, there were stressful situations we put the kids in. Our main emphasis is being able to finish. We want to finish what we have started."
Senior right guard Leone Mahe said he was mad after the bad loss to Lone Peak.
"We knew we needed to come back on Monday and be focused even more," he said. "We wanted to see them again. Now that we have a chance to get them again, we are more focused. We are having fun and we are working."
Ty Shaw, a senior offensive tackle, echoed the work theme, saying the team went back to put in more work, fix its mistakes and work on fundamentals.
"This time, we wanted to make sure we have good practices," he said. "We didn't have good practices that week."
Pearce said Lone Peak played a near-perfect game to win the region title game against his team. He said Herriman was outcoached and outplayed.
Herriman holds no illusions about the challenge of beating Lone Peak. They know first-hand how good, fast and well-coached the Knights are.
"They are just athletes out there," said Mahe.
"They are fast," added Shaw. "Everybody on their team is pretty quick. All are athletes. The biggest challenge is their speed."
Thus, Pearce and his team go into the state title game knowing how good Lone Peak is but feeling as though good practices and better focus give them a chance at an upset.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton —
Mustangs get back on track
• Since losing to Lone Peak 30-0 on Oct. 22 in the Region 4 championship game, Herriman has outscored its past three opponents 114-37 en route to its first 5A state title game.
• The return of injured cornerback Tanner Rosenbam and running back Brig Rush could help Herriman.
• The one-two offensive punch of Jake Jutkins and Kaden Strasters has been effective for Herriman during the state tournament. —
Class 5A championship
P Lone Peak vs. Herriman, at Rice-Eccles Stadium
Friday, 2:30 p.m.
TV • KJZZ