Lehi Sports
Pioneer football team rolls over Golden Eagles
Beky Beaton | Lehi Free Press
The Lehi High School football team put on an impressive show on both sides of the ball Friday (Aug. 15) as they opened the season with a 55-0 victory over Maple Mountain on the road.
The Pioneer defense held the Golden Eagles to 162 total yards in the contest. They were often going backwards as Lehi made seven tackles for a loss and the home squad hurt itself with a lot of penalties as well.
Photo credit: Jim Ballard
Maple Mountain got the ball first and converted on the first series but ended up punting from their own end zone and the Pioneers got the ball near midfield.
Working into a stiff wind, Lehi reached the red zone but settled for a 17-yard field goal from senior kicker Bode Hammond with 4:18 left to play in the first quarter.
After that, the scoring turned from a trickle to a torrent. On their next possession, the Eagles picked up chunk yards on a fake punt only to have the ball picked off by senior linebacker Vince Evans and returned 43 yards.
Senior running back Devaughn Eka muscled the ball to the 9-yard line for a first down, and two plays later waltzed into the end zone after a huge hole was opened by the offensive line. The Hammond PAT made it 10-0 with 54 seconds left in the period.
After a couple of exchanges, Lehi again got the ball at midfield. In the second series, junior quarterback Cash Hollingshead connected with senior wide receiver Legend Glasker for a 34-yard score at the 8:16 mark of the second quarter.
Three minutes later, the same pair produced a 12-yard touchdown. On the next Pioneer possession, junior quarterback Briggs Jensen entered the game and played most of the remaining minutes in that position.
Photo credit: Jim Ballard
He handed off to Eka for a 19-yard, break-tackle run that brought the score to 38-0 after another Hammond PAT with 1:56 left to the break.
On Maple Mountain’s first play of the subsequent possession, senior defensive back Murph Madsen added a 25-yard pick-six and Lehi went to the locker room with a 38-0 advantage.
The Pioneers converted on the first possession of the third quarter as Eka scored his third touchdown of the game on a 20-yard run behind a big block from Glasker. Lehi turned the contest over to the younger players at that point.
Jensen later led a drive that ended up in a 1-yard rushing score by junior running back Sam Verbecky. Hammond added a 52-yard field goal with 1:29 to play to complete the tally for the evening.
Both quarterbacks were highly effective. Hollingshead completed 14-of-19 passes (74%) for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Jensen was a perfect 9-for-9 for 69 yards.
Eka accounted for 123 combined yards on 10 carries plus two catches. Glasker finished with four receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Carter Cutler added three catches for 44 yards and senior wide receiver Jaxton Laddimore caught five tosses for 36 yards.
Hammond also had a perfect night, going 7-for7 on PATs and converting both of his field-goal attempts.
Photo credit: Jim Ballard
The Pioneers used at least 20 players on defense in the contest, led by junior linebacker Brody Downs with five solo and six overall tackles. Evans and junior linebacker Sterling Fillmore had five combined tackles apiece and senior defensive end Penisimani Takitaki added four tackles.
“When you get into that first game, you aren’t really sure what you’ve got,” said Coach Andy Hadfield. “It’s hard to tell how you’re going to stack up. I’m happy overall with the low number of penalties and the lack of turnovers and physicality of our team.
“We controlled the game for the most part,” he continued. “We missed some assignments and there’s lot of stuff we can clean up, but that’s to be expected.
“We went in there pretty prepared; the coaches did a good job and the kids responded. We didn’t hurt ourselves by starting behind the sticks very often. Both quarterbacks did a good job. We’re fortunate to have three QBs who can take us where we need to go.
“This is a high level of high school football,” Hadfield said. “The guys who earn it will play but the guys behind them need to prepare because we never know when they’ll be needed. The depth on our team is good; the reserves aren’t that far behind the starters.
“I think the players understand it’s more about my team than my stats,” he added. “We have playmakers on both sides of the ball.”
The coach said he was really happy with the play of the offensive line. “We knew they were good, and we were able to use plays we haven’t been able to run in the past. Those five interior guys did a great job. Kacyn Page for his first game starting was a standout on a lot of plays.”
Hadfield also said the defensive players were flying around as they had been taught. “They are ball hawks. The defensive line kept the pressure on and made them uncomfortable. The linebackers stayed on the ball and didn’t allow the big plays all night long.
“Our defensive front seven were really, really good but we’ve got to stay disciplined in our secondary,” he said. “Murph played a big leadership role back there and played like his hair was on fire.
“Bode was great and our field-goal protection was really good,” Hadfield said. “It was exciting to see that long kick. We had a little bit of a wind, but as soon as it came off his foot we knew it was over.” Hadfield said he was looking forward to coaching the team through the film session and watching them play with more poise this week. The Pioneers travel to Mountain Ridge on Friday (Aug. 22) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
