Herriman refuses to panic, edges Lone Peak for first 5A state title in school history


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SALT LAKE CITY — Lone Peak trailed region rival Herriman 10-6 going into the fourth quarter, but didn't seem to panic.

It showed when quarterback Talmage Gunther hit Tyson Doman with an 8-yard touchdown pass to the left corner of the end zone with 4:28 on the clock, then hit Doman on the same play for the two-point conversion to take a 14-10 lead over the Mustangs.

But panic isn't a word Herriman knows, either.

Sophomore quarterback Hayden Reynolds engineered a 1-minute, 49-second touchdown drive, and Kaden Strasters plunged in for a touchdown from 1 yard out with 22 seconds left to go up 17-14 to clinch the Mustangs' first Class 5A state championship in school history Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"It's a team sport, and if you don't believe, you're never going to win championships," said Herriman coach Dustin Pearce, who was coaching in his first state championship game. "With all the doubters, we believed in the locker room all year long that we were the best team in the state, and that's exactly what we proved."

Just six years after the school opened, Herriman became the 10th 5A state champion in Utah high school football history and denied Lone Peak (13-1) an undefeated season and its second title.

Herriman's Jake Jutkins runs the ball against Lone Peak in the 5A high school state championship football game in Salt Lake City, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News)
Herriman's Jake Jutkins runs the ball against Lone Peak in the 5A high school state championship football game in Salt Lake City, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News)

"This is the best moment of my life," said Herriman running back Jake Jutkins, who finished with a team-high 78 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. "It's great to be a part of history. It's amazing."

Strasters finished with 66 yards on 11 carries to go along with his game-winning touchdown for the Mustangs (11-3), who avenged a 30-0 loss to the Knights in the final week of the regular season.

But Herriman made up for the home loss that spoiled Senior Night early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter on Denver Osborne's 26-yard field goal after the Mustang defense forced a 36-yard field goal for the offense's first drive thanks in large part to Leki Fotu, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles.

"That was the game plan all along: make these guys play from behind," Pearce said. "If we could do that, we knew they would panic a little bit. But we also knew the second half would be a battle. That's exactly what it was."

From there, Jutkins scored on an explosive 41-yard run midway through the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 10-0 halftime lead.

"I saw a nice cutback hole, and the coaches told me all week it would be there," the 5-foot-6 running back said. "I knew it would be there, and I took it. There was no doubt."

But the Knights responded with several key offensive adjustments after the break, freeing up Gunther and the passing game. The 6-foot senior had 128 of his 167 passing yards after the break, and rolled out to throw his first touchdown to Jon Christensen on a 32-yard strike with 26 seconds left in the third quarter to pull within 10-6 entering the final period.

Gunther then engineered a five-minute, 52-second drive to take a 14-10 lead on Doman's score before Herriman began its miracle march.

"The coaches always tell us nothing is over until the clock says triple-zero," Jutkins said. "Nothing is ever over. We believed that."

The Mustangs' final touchdown nearly didn't happen, when the officials initially threw a penalty flag with 1:30 left after a fourth-down play that would've moved the chains. But after a brief consultation, the refs levied two penalties that offset each other and Noah Vaea took Reynolds' pass to the 11-yard line to set up Strasters' game-winner.

"Our coaches told us they would make big plays, but how would we respond. And we responded," said Vaea, a defensive standout whose 41-yard catch was a receiving high for Herriman. "I just knew we couldn't give up. We still had time; it's what our coach had told us all week. We knew they were going to make big plays all week. This is a dream."

Still, there were 22 seconds left on the clock for Lone Peak to respond — and the Knights moved the chains before running out of time following several big runs by Gunther, who finished with 100 yards on 22 carries for Lone Peak.

"We had a chance to win at the end, and what more can you ask for?" Lone Peak coach Mike Mower asked rhetorically. "Hat's off to Herriman; they did what they had to do at the end. I'm real proud of my kids. They could've laid down and had enough. But they came out and had a chance."

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