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HERRIMAN — Thursday’s high school football game between Region 1 contender Davis and Region 3 stalwart Herriman could be a big game on its own merits.
But the stakes are raised even more in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
With neighboring state associations opting to delay fall sports — to the spring, like California and Nevada, or at least to September, like in Texas, the Darts’ trip to the west end of the Salt Lake Valley will be the first formally sanctioned high school football game in the nation.
The eyes of the United States will be on the Beehive State.
“I think the boys are prepared,” Davis coach Mitch Arquette told KSL TV. “They’re excited, and they’re ready to go.
“We talked about it with the boys, being the first impression of high school football this year.”
The Darts have big goals for the 2020 season, with 12 returning starters, including quarterback Chance Trujillo and running back Spencer Ferguson. But perhaps the biggest goal has nothing to do with competing for a Region 1 title.
“Our goal is to stay healthy and finish the 2020 season, as planned,” Arquette said with a bit of a nervous laugh, perhaps illustrating a common feeling among high school coaches around the state.
With that in mind, Davis coaches and its sports medicine staff screen for symptoms of the virus every day, including mandatory temperature checks. Schools also have limited contact time between players and coaches — some have even opted to wear face coverings during training — and other protocols are in place to help maintain a clean, sanitary environment for all games and practices.
The team area along each sideline has been extended to the 10-yard line in either direction. Teams can also only dress up to 50 players, down from previous years, and timeouts will last two minutes to help players use designated water bottles and not share hydration tools.
Perhaps the biggest change will come in the stands, where every school will operate under limited capacity. Schools have been left to their own designs with how to limit capacity, with most capping attendance between 25% and 50% of a full crowd, and Salt Lake City schools won’t be allowed to have any fans at all based on their status as an orange, moderate-risk phase of the state’s COVID-19 response.
Each ticket comes with a written agreement, and an assumption: to follow the rules.
"It’s gonna be different,” Herriman principal Todd Quarnberg said. “If I could give a one-word descriptor, it would be anxiety.
"Is it worth it?" he added. "It's worth it to the kids on the field ... this will be the test."
Sure, there’s anxiety. Anxiousness. Even stoicism about being the first team back — not just in the county, or the state, but in the nation.
But there’s also the usual sense of excitement and optimism for a new year.
“We’re all concerned and everything,” Herriman defensive back Dominic Martucci said. “We got our masks up. But at the end of the day, we all just want to be on that field.”
Most schools are operating under yellow “low risk” or green “new normal” guidelines, which include limited crowd sizes. And while teams may be forced to reschedule or cancel games if infection rates on their rosters rise above a manageable threshold, Utah High School Activities Association officials won’t penalize a team for such a cancellation; instead of forfeits, those games will merely be marked as a “zero,” essentially neutral on a team’s end-of-season RPI rating.
But the season is about more than the virus. It’s also a chance for teens to compete, to play with their friends, to work out — and even to earn a scholarship to college.
That’s the case for Carsen Ryan, ranked as a four-star tight end by 247 Sports, who will open the season when Timpview hosts Lone Peak on Friday night. His upcoming junior season is when the recruiting calendar determines most high school athletes' main course of action for collegiate careers.
And Ryan’s recruiting cycle has already been altered during the spring and summer, when he wasn’t allowed to have contact with coaches beyond a few FaceTime or Zoom calls.
Of course, it also takes a back seat to the Thunderbirds’ higher aspirations a year after falling to Orem in the Class 5A state championship.
“This year is really important,” said Ryan, who has offers from BYU, Utah State, Arkansas, Washington, Colorado and Kansas, among others. “Hopefully I get to go and show out, and show what I’m all about. Most important, we want to win it all this year.”
Timpview starts the year with a bang of its own, hosting Lone Peak at 7 p.m. Friday night. The game, which will be streamed on live.ksl.com, will pit the No. 2-ranked team in 5A against the third-ranked team in 6A in arguably the highest-rated matchup of opening week.
The Knights beat Timpview last year when Nate Ritchie scored the final 10 points of a game that was later forfeited due to Lone Peak’s use of an ineligible player. But revenge is a small part of the Thunderbirds’ motivation — the primary motivation for Friday night is gratitude.
“We mainly talked about being grateful for what we’ve got,” Ryan said. “A lot of guys wish they could be in our position, but they can’t even go out and practice. Our coaches have really emphasized being grateful that we have this opportunity, to keep things safe and follow all the rules to make it last.”
Contributing: Tania Dean and Matt Rascon, KSL TV
