Lehi Sports
Pioneer football earns opening win over Golden Eagles
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi High School football team got the fall season started with a comfortable 35-13 victory over Maple Mountain at home on Friday (Aug. 14). The Pioneers built a 21-6 lead in the first quarter with chunk plays and controlled the progress of the contest from there.
The teams traded 3-and-outs on their initial possessions, but Lehi struck gold on the first play of the second one as senior running back Sam Verbecky got loose on the left side and sprinted 67 yards for the touchdown at the 8:46 mark of the period. Senior kicker Finn McBride added the PAT.
The much-improved Golden Eagles reached the red zone during their second drive and elected to try a 25-yard field goal on 4th-and-3 at the 8-yard line, but the attempt was blocked by senior defensive back Porter Hobbs.
After the miss, the Pioneers took over at the 26-yard line. This time, senior quarterback Briggs Jensen hit senior wide receiver Cam Wren and he outran his pursuit for the 74-yard score with 6:45 remaining in the quarter. The McBride PAT made it 14-0.
Maple Mountain went 3-and-out on their next possession but soon got the ball back with an interception at their own 36-yard line. This time it was their turn for the big play as Kyren Jones took a pass from quarterback Joey Imperial all the way to the house for a 64-yard score at 4:09.
The point-after attempt was blocked by senior linebacker Brody Downs so the score remained 14-6. The subsequent kickoff was returned 51 yards by sophomore Hendrix Cluff to give Lehi a short field for the next drive.
A Wren reception and two Verbecky runs moved the ball to the 13-yard line and Verbecky took it in from there with 2:23 to go. The PAT extended the lead to 21-6.
Neither team was able to find the end zone during the second quarter, so that spread stood at the break. In the third period, Wren scored his second touchdown with a 21-yard catch from Jensen.
Junior running back Cam Bryce completed the Pioneer tally for the evening with a 6-yard rushing score with under a minute remaining in the third period. The PAT made it 35-6.
The visitors managed to reach the end zone one more time with a minute left to make the final score look a little closer.
Jensen finished the night completing 18-of-32 (56%) passes for 247 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Wren collected seven catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Kyson Butterfield added four receptions for 52 yards.
There was good balance in the attack with 176 total rushing yards. Verbecky picked up 109 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns while Bryce added 11 carries for 78 yards and one score.
The defense flexed its muscles with contributions from a lot of different players. Downs and senior linebacker Paul Unga each had four solo and six combined tackles and Downs added three hurries. Senior linebacker Colt Kelley had seven combined tackles.
Sophomore defensive lineman Brody Mellor had three solo and six combined tackles. Sophomore defensive back Eli Cole had three solo and five combined tackles as did junior defensive back Case Kelley. Cole also made a pair of deflections.
Sophomore cornerback Li’i Unga had an impressive debut with four combined tackles, three deflections and an interception. Senior defensive end Sterling Fillmore and senior defensive lineman Tautai Meredith each had five hurries along with multiple tackles as they brought the pressure.
“I expected Maple Mountain to be better than last year, which they were,” said head Coach Andy Hadfield. “I have a lot of respect for them. They have some players over there who are really good, especially their defensive end.
“We made some silly mental mistakes, but you expect those things in a first game,” he continued. “That allows us a chance to teach. Rotation-wise, we need to get some guys in who didn’t get as much time as maybe they should have.
“I’m excited to watch this team. I’m more relaxed and confident that they will do what we teach and I was really pleased with their overall effort,” Hadfield said. “Execution needs to get better, but if you have effort, you can fix execution.
“Briggs really stepped up and did what he does well,” the coach went on. “He managed the game, made good reads and the ball came out on time. Sam ran hard with the opportunity to show what he can do and Wren was good too, making the plays we expect from him.
“Our offensive line did a good job against a really good defense,” he said. “We had a few hiccups, but Karder Woodword (Sr.) graded out the best in this game. He didn’t play last year but decided to come back and I was really pleased with his performance.
“On defense, what makes our front seven good is they are assignment-sound,” Hadfield said. “Our linemen allowed the linebackers to go make plays. Downs was a heat-seeking missile out there; when there’s a hole, he’s going to go find the ball.
“We did a really good job stopping the run,” he said. “Our defensive secondary is young but they’re really good. We have things to work on, but this was a solid start. I’m happy with our kicker. He never played a football game before and he went 5-for-5 in PATs. I’m excited to see what he can do.”
On Friday (Aug. 21) at 7 p.m., the Pioneers will host Mountain Ridge, an upset winner over Skyridge in last week’s kickoff game. “They are a well-coached team, and they do some things differently than a normal defense does. This gives us a chance to get better in a hurry,” the coach concluded.
Photos by Jim Ballard.
