Lang, Leopards win first state title since 1996 with 4A romp over Timpview


21 photos
Save Story

Show 1 more video

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — As soon as East High coach Brandon Matich finished shaking hands with the opposing team following his Leopards' picking apart of three-time defending Class 4A state champion Timpview at Rice-Eccles Stadium, he looked around as every one of his players flooded the field, jumping into one another's arms and waving a giant East flag at midfield.

A few students in the stands ran onto the field. Assistant coaches, parents and a few former players crowded onto the grass.

And Matich couldn't help it anymore. He let out a primal scream.

It had been a long time coming.

Johnnie Lang ran for 199 yards and three touchdowns, and the Leopards piled up 504 yards on the ground in rolling to a 49-14 win over the Thunderbirds on Friday night.

"These kids deserve this," Matich said. "They've worked so hard and have overcome so much the last four or five years and the adversity we had to endure in this program. I didn't imagine it would feel this good."

The game had an eerie feeling of a shootout early, with Timpview quarterback Kahi Neves and star receiver Samson Nacua matching Lang and the East ground game blow-for-blow. After Charlie Vincent gave East a 7-0 lead, Neves responded with a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter.

Jaylen Warren scored on a 3-yard scamper in the second quarter, but Neves and Nacua responded with a drive capped by Saia Folaumahina's 1-yard scurry.

East's Cole Peterson (10) dives to make a reception in the second half of the 4A high school football championships against Timpview at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo: Chris Samuels, Deseret News)
East's Cole Peterson (10) dives to make a reception in the second half of the 4A high school football championships against Timpview at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo: Chris Samuels, Deseret News)

Lang ended the half with a 54-yard touchdown run that gave the Leopards a 21-14 halftime lead.

But after East fumbled the ball on the opening driving of the second half, the Leopards' defense showed up, too — Moa Heimuli was one of five Leopards with a tackle for loss, and East pitched a shutout the rest of the way while holding the Thunderbirds to 273 yards of offense and just 121 yards on the ground.

All the while, Lang engineered four scoring drives to pull away for the victory.

"It was huge," Matich said of his team's second-half defense. "We talked at halftime that we had everything we wanted: a seven-point lead, the ball coming out of the half with a chance to go up two scores. And then we came out and fumbled. But our defense stepped up; it was huge. It changed all the momentum."

From there, the Leopards' offense rolled. Lang ran for two second-half scores, and Vincent and Warren each added scores as East pulled away with a 28-0 second half.

"Everybody was committed and did their job," an emotional Warren said while surrounded by friends, teammates and family members. "Last year, people were worried about other people's jobs and sometimes more than doing their job. But we all trusted each other this year; it was different."

Lang, a transfer student from Florida, said it was the culmination of hours, days, weeks and months of hard work, dating back to January and rumbling along beginning at 5:30 a.m. every day as the Leopards pulled themselves into early morning practices at the Salt Lake campus.

Lang didn't know about the history of East High before he arrived: how the Leopards hadn't won a title in 19 years, or that they had come agonizingly close several times since then, including postseason losses to Timpview in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

All he knew was what he saw: that the Leopards started right after last year's first-round exit to the Thunderbirds to work toward this moment, from offseason conditioning to weight training to early morning practices.

He wasn't going to let the day slip away.

"I just knew that once I first got here, we were all committed," said Lang, who completed all three of his pass attempts for 58 yards. "We put in a lot of hard work over the summer, coming into the gym at 6 o'clock in the morning and just grinding. This is what they worked for, and it's what they deserved."

For Lang, it was also the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. The senior had never won a state championship in Florida, though he did make one championship game in his three years in the Sunshine State's educational system.

But a move to Salt Lake City with his best friend brought him everything he wanted, and everything the team could imagine.

"He made a huge difference," Warren said of Lang. "Our offense was pretty good, but when he came, it helped us a lot. It definitely pushed us a lot."

Neves completed 11-of-33 passes for 152 yards, but also threw three interceptions, and he was sacked twice while running the ball 14 times for 35 yards and a score. Nacua ended the game with nine catches for 135 yards, and Folaumahina added 80 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

But rather than the defending three-time champs, the night belonged to Lang and the Leopards.

"It's everything I dreamed of," said Lang, who hopes to one day play again at Rice-Eccles Stadium, though he hasn't received an offer from the Utes yet. "This is a great feeling for me. I'd rather have this than anything right now."

Photos

Related links

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsHigh School
Sean Walker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast