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LEHI — The undefeated Skyridge Falcons are undefeated no more.
The Corner Canyon Chargers handed the Falcons its first loss of the season with a come-from-behind 21-17 victory Friday night.
The Chargers overcame five turnovers by their offense as the defense locked down the Falcons and held them scoreless in the second half. Typically, five turnovers won't win you a football game, but with a defense as stout as the Chargers, led by linebacker and BYU commit Owen Borg, Skyridge's normally powerful offense came up short.
"(The defense) killed it," said Corner Canyon head coach Eric Kjar. "They played so good; they balled out. I knew we could definitely lean on them, especially the way they started off. They started off fast, they started off strong."
Borg helped erase some of the offense's struggles by hauling in two interceptions of his own, both of which stopped strong drives by Skyridge. Though the picks came multiple drives apart, Corner Canyon's stud linebacker seemed to be in the same, perfect position each time.
"Coach got me in the right spots and knew exactly what to call," Borg said. "It was all him. I just executed the play we've been practicing all week."
Corner Canyon didn't get its first lead in the game until the 10:13 mark in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run by Drew Patterson. And with the way the defense had improved steadily throughout the game, Skyridge faced a near impossible task in scoring again.
The Falcons had one last chance with 1:26 remaining in the game to put together an 80-yard game-winning drive with no timeouts. Back-to-back deep passes fell incomplete, and a short completion set up fourth-and-6. Skyridge quarterback Trent Call connected with one of his receivers, but his foot was out of bounds, which caused the Falcons a turnover on downs and the win for the Chargers.
While the defense stole the show for Corner Canyon, the offense showed there's still room for improvement. Four-star quarterback recruit Isaac Wilson runs the machine, along with a healthy stable of receivers, a solid offensive line and a talented running back in Patterson. Friday night proved to be a grinder, and there's plenty to work on, but Kjar liked the way his offense responded to the adversity.
"Isaac does a really, really good job, and he's just so competitive," Kjar said. "He's a great competitor. He's just gotta be smarter with the football. He does so many good things and he has so much talent. ... But our line played good; I thought they did a good job. Drew ran really well. Our receivers, you know, at times we found some holes and got some things, but we can be better, too. But I'm really proud of our kids."
The Falcons capitalized on a few of the Chargers' mistakes early on in the game and scored shortly after Corner Canyon's first two turnovers: an interception and a fumble. By the end of the first quarter, Skyridge had a healthy 14-0 lead and Corner Canyon's offense looked out of sync. But little by little, the Chargers crept back into the game and trailed by only 3 points at halftime, 17-14.
But in the second half, the Chargers defense clamped down and shut out the Falcons the rest of the game.
"We brought the energy the second half," Borg said. "We had it in the first half, but we were ready to go in the second half. We changed in that locker room (at halftime); our coaches got us ready to go and it was a good flip."
The closest the Falcons came to scoring in the second half was a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter that missed wide left. The undefeated No. 1 ranked Skyridge Falcons showed their vulnerability, and the Chargers pounced. After facing some tough losses of their own this year, the Chargers relished the opportunity to knock down a team as daunting as the Falcons.
"(Skyridge) is fun," Kjar said. "Like as much stress as they are, they're fun, too; and we needed one. We've had a couple where we've really kind of had some tough games at times and we haven't played super well. It's fun to have one where we played better in the fourth quarter and finished stuff off the right way."
What's next
Skyridge looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season but faces a stiff challenge as the Falcons travel to nearby Lone Peak in a Region 4 contest with the Knights. Corner Canyon will try to keep the momentum going as the Chargers welcome the Westlake Thunder to Draper.
