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AMERICAN FORK — With a wealth of offensive weapons — like five-star recruit Jerome Myles, running back Bryton Brady and junior receiver Kai Meza — new Corner Canyon quarterback Helaman Casuga has a treasure trove of riches to make the Chargers' offense hum.
Add Chryshaun Lee to the scouting report. Or don't, but do so at your own peril.
Lee hauled in four touchdown passes of Casuga's six as top-ranked Corner Canyon put up a 70-42 win over American Fork in the season opener for both teams Friday.
Brady ran for three scores for the Chargers (1-0), and Meza and Myles each added a receiving touchdown.
For teams prepared to bracket Myles on the outside — like American Fork did in the first half — the Chargers have a message: Lee will make you pay.
"He's a really good player," Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar said. "We're pretty lucky to have what we have offensively, with Jerome, Kai, Drew (Whatcott), Chryshaun, Bryton, and our offensive line is really good. And then you've got Helaman back there, too; they can put it together.
"If teams are going to put a lot of attention or expect it to be Jerome or Bryton, we're going to work off that. We feel like we've got enough guys in spots where if you take one thing away, we can do something with that."
Lee admitted that the offensive side wasn't sure how they'd jell in the first game of the year, after replacing Utah freshman Isaac Wilson at quarterback with Casuga, who transferred to Corner Canyon from Timpview in the offseason, and a handful of receivers.
Five-star receiver Jerome Myles with an 80-yard touchdown from Top247 QB Helaman Casuga. Cheat code. https://t.co/B7hIre4R7qpic.twitter.com/7RDM5az0lc
— Blair Angulo (@BlairAngulo) August 17, 2024
Turns out Casuga, the four-star junior with offers from Arizona, Auburn, BYU and Colorado State, among others, was more than able to guide the ship — with little trouble Friday night.
"We built good chemistry, and it was a good team win," said Lee, the 5-foot-7 receiver with offers from Utah State and Utah Tech, among others. "We practice hard, but it's mainly our coaches. They put us in the scheme and help me know the defense in and out.
"No other high school throws the ball like we do," Lee added. "Now we have a good O-line and can run the ball; it's great. We were a big question mark team, but I think we showed that we're as good as we were last year when we had Isaac and some dudes leave. But we're still a good team."
The Chargers couldn't have started much better, when Brady took the opening handoff 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game.
Corner Canyon scored three touchdowns on its first four plays, including Casuga finding Lee for a pair of scores to put the Chargers up 21-7 with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
But the Cavemen came back, cutting the deficit as close as 35-28 on David Gaisford's third touchdown pass of the night, a 44-yarder to freshman Cash Tiese before Corner Canyon took a 42-24 lead at halftime with a 28-yard run by Brady.
The Cavemen (0-1) punched back as Gaisford found Cade Wilkinson to cap the opening drive of the third quarter and cut the deficit to 42-35 with 9:00 on the clock in the third quarter.
Top247 QB Helaman Casuga hits electric 2026 receiver Kai Meza for another long Corner Canyon touchdown. Chargers lead American Fork 28-14 early second quarter. https://t.co/c7kCuABKiKpic.twitter.com/YN8p2fQl6D
— Blair Angulo (@BlairAngulo) August 17, 2024
But Corner Canyon pinned the hosts to one touchdown the rest of the away and put the game away as Brady capped his hat trick with a 50-yard scamper and 247Sports top 200 offensive line Zion Finau powered in from a yard out in a jumbo package to cap the scoring with 3:30 remaining.
And yet, Kjar admits there's still some offense left on the table; the Chargers scored on just one of their 12 drives, after all. Seven of those scoring drives came on drives of three plays or less.
"Execution wise, it was a pretty good today. There were a few little things that we missed," said Kjar, whose team hosts national power IMG Academy next Friday in the home opener. "Sometimes we made it right because we have some pretty good athletes out there, and scheme-wise we weren't as clean as we need to be. But we're going to get there, for sure.
"I always think we can be a little more physical, and I love the way our receivers block down field. Bryton runs really hard, and he's a super talent; there's a lot of upside on that offensive side. We've just got to continue to want to get better."
Gaisford finished the night with four passing touchdowns, including three to Wilkinson.
