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SALT LAKE CITY — Highland High quarterback James Pembroke looked at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter of the Rams' 4A state quarterfinal against Corner Canyon and felt stressed.
Any normal person would, he admitted, being down 35-14 to the Chargers at home in the fourth quarter.
But he didn't panic — and after accounting for three touchdowns in the final three minutes against the Chargers, Highland (10-3) earned its first state semifinal appearance since 2012 with a double-overtime victory over Corner Canyon.
The Rams will take on three-time defending 4A champion Timpview (12-1) at 2:30 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the second state semifinal Thursday. East and Springville start the day at 11 a.m. on the Hill.
Upstart 3AA challenger Snow Canyon faces Logan in the first semifinal of that classification Thursday. The 5A playoffs start Friday, as well as the second 3AA semifinal between Dixie and Tooele.
All games will be streamed on live.ksl.com.
Getting to this day was one of Pembroke's dreams heading into the season. But he's not ready to go down quietly, just as he wasn't before throwing one touchdown pass and running for two more scores last Friday night.
"We just didn't give up. They stopped their intensity, and we kept it going," Pembroke said. "We didn't want to stop playing football; my goal was to make it far, at least to Rice-Eccles. I was playing my hardest and doing the best I could do for my team."
The junior completed 60 percent of his passes for 987 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and the dual-threat quarterback has also ran for 782 yards and 19 scores on 161 carries.
Leading the fourth-quarter charge has raised Pembroke's confidence as he "fought for another Monday" in the quarterfinals. But so, too, did the senior-laden offensive linemen in front of him who helped the Rams build on what they've done in qualifying for four-straight state playoffs.
"There's great leadership, and I think last year's team gave these guys very good mentors in front of them," said coach Brody Benson, who is coaching the smallest senior class at Highland. "Last year was a great group to coach, and even though we went out early, it was a fun year."
Benson has stressed to his high school students the blessing of making it to the state semifinals — 28 other teams would happily trade places with them as they practice under the lights in the cool November air.
"It's fun to be practicing in November," Benson said. "We tell the kids to cherish every second they have to come out and be on the field.
"We are fighting for another Monday."
One of those seniors is offensive lineman Jayden Paulauni, who also has a team-high 60 tackles and 20 tackles for loss on defense.
Paulauni played with the Rams' varsity team as a freshman, the last time Highland advanced to the state semifinals. Since then, he's made it a goal to get back to Rice-Eccles Stadium — both for him and the underclassmen on this year's squad.
"These are the memories we'll always have: these practices this late in the season," Paulauni said. "I feel that these are the best times of our lives, and we're going to live it."
Standing opposite Paulauni's line will be the Thunderbirds, who are led by quarterback Kahi Neves and his 2,019 yards and 15 touchdown passes, as well as wide receiver Samson Nacua, who has 1,072 yards and seven touchdowns on 48 catches.
"They're a good team with really good athletes, but they are beatable," Pembroke said. "Coach Benson told us it's the same football field, and they put on their pants just like we do. It's nothing different."
Paulauni knows that even if Rams get down against the Thunderbirds, they won't give in. They've proven that several times this season, and more so just a week ago.
"We don't ever want to fight from behind, but it's always great to know your team is never going to give up and we're going to keep fighting — no matter the score," he said. "We'll always fight to come out on top, and never give up."
