- Skyridge defeated Lehi 42-38 in a Region 3 opener Thursday night.
- Kaneal Sweetwyne threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns after early interceptions.
- Devaughn Eka led Lehi with 228 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
LEHI — For Kaneal Sweetwyne, the most important play was always the next one.
The Skyridge senior rebounded from a pair of first-half interceptions, including a pick six, to throw for 379 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another crucial score as the Falcons rallied from a 21-7 deficit early to hold off crosstown rival Lehi in a 42-38 win Thursday night.
Lincoln Tahi ran for two scores for Skyridge (5-1, 1-0 Region 3), which bounced back from a 51-28 loss to Colorado's Cherry Creek to open Region 3 play with a win and stay unbeaten against in-state competition.
Devaughn Eka ran for 228 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Pioneers, and Cash Hollingshead threw a pair of long touchdown passes to Legend Glasker and Cam Wren to lead twice by double digits.
Yet the Falcons never panicked.
"It's the same thing as last week; we were down 21-0," said Sweetwyne, who now turns his attention toward "Big Noon Kickoff" and Utah, which recently offered him a scholarship. "But we came out here and competed, and showed we can fight."
Skyridge coach Justin Hemm added that such a mentality comes down to one word: trust.
"We focus a lot on the next-play mentality," he added. "At the end of the day, what's the most important play? It's the next one.
"Regardless of all this stuff that took place previously, we believe that in 80 plays of offense, one play is not going to end the game. These guys believe that, and I think we have great leadership among the key players on this team."
Sweetwyne couldn't have started much worse, throwing back-to-back interceptions, including one that Treyson Fabrizio returned to the 1-yard to set up the fullback dive from defensive lineman Briggs Love that put Lehi up 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
But the Falcons came back to tie the game on Tahi's short touchdown with 4:41 left in the half.
After Lehi's Bode Hammond easily nailed a 48-yard field goal with 1:32 left in the half, Sweetwyne calmly led a touchdown drive capped by a 24-yard strike to Hunter Sheffield to give Skyridge a 28-24 halftime lead.
Yes, the former BYU commit rebounded nicely from a poor start, finishing the first half with 281 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"The key tonight was just fighting," Sweetwyne said. "They're a good team, but we've got to come back with better hurry than we did in the first quarter."
Eka ran for 75 yards in the first half, including a 7-yard touchdown to open the scoring, and Glasker hauled in a pass from Hollingshead and took it 75 yards to the house to go up 21-7 with 1:52 left in the first quarter.
But the Falcons got back into the game with defense, including Briggs Parker's 23-yard interception return that helped spark the host's first-half comeback.
Still, Lehi didn't go away.
Eka open the second half with a 45-yard touchdown, and Hollingshead for Wren for a 55-yard score as the Pioneers (3-2, 0-1) shut out the Falcons in the third quarter.
But Sweetwyne scored from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter, Tahi added his second touchdown on a 1-yard dive with 7:17 to go, and Skyridge's defense did the rest.
The win is part of a brutal stretch for Skyridge in what some call the "SEC of Utah high school football," with Corner Canyon next week followed by rival Lone Peak.
"I mean, this has been a grind," Hemm said. "We've got a four-week stretch that is a huge grind, from Cherry Creek to Lehi, Corner and Lone Peak; that's this region. It's tough.
"But, ultimately, all it does is prepare us for when we want to be most successful, which is the playoffs … and hopefully come October and November, we're playing our best football."
