Lehi Sports
Pioneer football comes up just short in Homecoming heartbreaker
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
After falling behind three scores to Herriman in the first half, the Lehi High School football team mounted a stirring comeback to move in front late in the fourth quarter on Friday (Sept. 26), then saw the win slip away in the final seconds as the Mustangs blocked a field-goal try that could have earned the victory.
Herriman remains undefeated at 7-0, while the Pioneer mark has fallen to 4-3. Those three losses have come by a combined spread of seven points.
“We’re competing, but we’re still looking for ways to finish off games,” said Coach Andy Hadfield. “I reminded the kids that it’s a long season. Winning football games at this level is hard – the other teams are all getting better too. We need to continue to improve the intensity of our practices.”
Lehi’s offense didn’t find any rhythm in the first half and was unable to put any points on the board. The generally-solid Pioneer defense was scrambling to contain a punishing ground game mixed in with enough passing to keep them off-balance.
The Mustangs scored two touchdowns and a field goal in the first and second quarters and Lehi went to the locker room searching for answers.
“We challenged the players to be tougher,” Hadfield said. “We have to be more mentally and physically tough. We reminded them that we had prepared and worked for all of the offseason and preseason for this time. I’m proud of the way they responded.”
The defense really got after it in the second half and didn’t allow another point until there were just 30 seconds left in the contest.
In the meantime, senior quarterback Wyatt Bingham entered the game and methodically went about reducing the deficit. It didn’t take long to gain some momentum as the offensive line opened a hole for senior running back Devaughn Eka and he sprinted 71 yards to the endzone.
Senior kicker Bode Hammond converted on the PAT and just like that, the game got a touchdown closer with only 49 seconds gone on the game clock.
The Lehi defense forced a punt by Herriman on their next possession, and the Pioneers took over on their own 19-yard line.
This drive moved quickly with chunk plays provided by Eka and senior wide receiver Legend Glasker and was capped by a two-yard toss to Penisimani Takitaki for the score.
That reduced the gap to two points with 6:13 left in the third quarter. Lehi soon got the ball back as the Mustangs went three-and-out on their next possession. The Pioneers drove all the way down again but came away empty after a pick in the endzone.
Herriman then put a solid drive together but were held out of the target once again. The Mustangs elected to try a field goal on fourth-and-13 at the 15-yard line, but the attempt was blocked by senior defensive back Trey Fabrizio.
Starting from their own 23, Lehi marched down the field with dispatch once more. This drive included a key 25-yard reception by senior tight end Bryton Niu and a 12-yard run by Bingham.
A reverse from Eka to Glasker produced a 16-yard rushing touchdown and the Pioneers got their first lead of the evening at 21-16 with 3:12 left to play.
An untimely penalty aided Herriman in keeping up their forward progress and the Mustangs converted on a fourth-and-6 with 30 seconds left for a go-ahead touchdown. They were unsuccessful on a two-point try so the score stayed at 22-21.
Bingham completed urgent passes to Eka, Glasker and Niu to get within field-goal range with 3.5 seconds left, but Herriman blocked the kick and ran off the field with the victory.
“A couple of mental lapses here and there made the difference,” Hadfield said. “Every team we play is going to be good and we have to make the right play at the right time every time.
“We have to fill every assignment and clean up the small little lapses in mental performance that make the difference in close games,” the coach added.
Playing only in the second half, Bingham completed 14-of-16 (88%) passes for 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception, also rushing for 21 yards.
“Making a change at quarterback is never easy but we felt it was the right time,” Hadfield said. “I’m really impressed about the way Wyatt came out.
“He stepped up in this game and really showed he had a grasp of what we’re trying to do and put that together with the experience he already had,” the coach said.
“It was fun to see the team rally around each other. I liked the energy the team showed. They believe in him and that changes their mentality.”
Eka carried 14 times for 142 yards and made six catches for 25 yards. Glasker accounted for a combined 207 yards in rushing, receiving and kick returns. Niu finished with four catches for 54 yards.
Senior linebacker Vince Evans had a monster night to lead the defensive effort with six solo and 19 total tackles, including a sack for a loss of 16 yards.
Senior defensive end Adruen Meredith made 11 tackles including two sacks for -21 yards while junior linebackers Brody Downs and Cole Kelley added 10 tackles apiece and senior defensive back Reed Neilsen had five solo and nine total tackles.
This week, the Pioneers (4-3, 0-1) host their longest-running rivals in American Fork (6-1, 1-0) on Friday (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m. After their huge upset win over Lone Peak, the Cavemen sit on top of the Region 3 standings right now as the only team without a league loss.
“I’m excited to see how we do this week,” Hadfield said. “It’s another game and another chance to show we’re getting better.”
