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WEST VALLEY CITY — On a rainy Thursday night, Carson Su'esu'e played as well as his defense in a homecoming win over Kearns.
That's a high compliment for the Granger quarterback.
The BYU commit threw four touchdown passes with an interception, and the Lancers defense forced four turnovers — highlighted by Uisi Tu'uao's 85-yard pick six in the second half — to wallop the visiting Cougars.
Kearns (2-5) knocked on the door of the end zone a couple of times, including its first drive prior to a missed field goal.
That opened the door for Su'esu'e, the De La Salle transfer from Concord, California, who completed 64% of his passes for 1,231 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions against a schedule that included losses to Corner Canyon, Pleasant Grove and Weber before starting Region 4 play at 2-0.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior needed just one drive to put the Lancers (4-3) up with a 38-yard touchdown strike to Maka Sonasi midway through the first quarter.
Su'esu'e doubled the advantage with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Landon Figueroa with 5:21 left in the first quarter, then found Figueroa again for a 21-yard score to end the half with a 19-0 advantage that was all Granger's defense would need.
After giving up 106 points in a 2-1 start to the season, the Lancers have allowed a combined 26 points in region wins over West Jordan and Kearns.
"They've come around," Granger coach Pala Vaitu'u said of his defense. "We've switched some things in the last couple of weeks, and a lot of the things we knew. You can see them getting better and better. I can't wait to see them in a couple of more weeks. They played hard today."
But the Lancers weren't done with one half of a strong defensive effort.
After Su'esu'e opened the second half with a 25-yard touchdown to Jordan Tu'uao, the Cougars mixed it up with a run-pass balance to rumble into Granger's red zone.
That's when Uisi Tu'uao pulled down an errant pass right at the 15-yard line, bolted to the boundary corner, and sprinted 85 yards to paydirt to push the lead to 33-0.
"It made it easier for us when we told our guys to just man them up," Vaitu'u said. "We played zero, and we were going to add everybody into the box, stop the run, and stop their RPO slants, which is where we got that pick, and he took one back six. It helps to take those safeties and other playmakers, add them into the run game, and they just executed very well."
Kyler Buhler prevented the shutout on the final play of the game, hauling in an open 20-yard touchdown catch from Bryce Benson to put the Cougars on board before fireworks erupted in the rain-soaked sky on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley.
"We always tell them, there's always a next play," Vaitu'u said. "You can't worry about that last play, whether it's a good play or a bad play. Just forget about it. The next one is the most important thing."
Granger can take a big step toward a Region 4 title with a win next Friday at winless Taylorsville. Kearns hosts Hunter next Friday.
