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SALT LAKE CITY — Friday afternoon didn’t start out as a good day for Corner Canyon running back Caden Johnson.
The senior two-way standout had a loose ball fall through his hands and go for a safety in the first half of a state semifinal against Olympus.
On a potential go-ahead score, Johnson was stuffed on a direct-snap fourth-down play from the one.
But with 1:55 remaining, none of that mattered.
Johnson ran for 83 yards and a touchdown — the game-winner with just under two minutes left — to help the unbeaten Chargers rally by Olympus 20-15 in a Class 5A state semifinal Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The undefeated Chargers (11-0) will face Skyridge in next week’s 5A championship after holding off the previously undefeated Titans in their first semifinal game since 2014.
“It’s a full four-quarter game. Mistakes will happen, especially in games like this,” Johnson said after the game. “You just have to come back and keep driving; that’s all you can do.
“That’s just the way the game goes. There are ups and downs, and you just have to keep fighting and keep pushing through. We came out on top in the end.”
Cody Hagen completed 15-of-21 passes for 220 yards, including a 15-yard strike to John Mitchell that tied the game at 7-all with 11:06 left in the second quarter.
But Hagen also threw three interceptions, and the Chargers turned the ball over five times and allowed four sacks as the Titans (11-1) took a 15-14 halftime lead on Jackson Frank's 29-yard strike to Noah Bennee, a two-way standout for Olympus who also had three picks.
“Scheme-wise, they are very, very sound,” Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar said. “If you make mistakes, they will make you pay — and we made a lot of mistakes. But we were still able to take care of it.”
Bennee caught four passes for 109 yards, and Frank threw for 101 yards on limited touches due to an injury while Olympus' defense kept the Chargers in check for most of the second half.
It appeared that critical safety would be the difference until John Mitchell put on his Superman cape for Corner Canyon.
The 6-foot-4 senior, who finished with 130 yards on eight catches, reeled in a slant route-pass from Hagen with just under 4 minutes remaining to give the Chargers a first-and-10 from the 14-yard line.
Every time Corner Canyon needed a clutch play, Mitchell was there.
“He’s been like that all year for us, made great plays for us consistently,” Kjar said. “We really rely on him a lot, especially height-wise with his mismatch. We can just throw it up. There isn’t a lot that goes into it.
“He played big today. He just needs to keep his mouth shut a little bit, but he did a good job.”
Johnson added an 8-yard run inside the 10, and the Chargers capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive over 4:42 to take the final lead of the game — just their second lead of the game.
“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game, and they are a really tough team,” Johnson said. “But we turned to each other and said, ‘this is what we’ve been working all year for, so let’s go get it.’ It was awesome.”
Chase Bennion’s big run helped spring Tommy Poulton on the next play, and the senior sprinted 42 yards off tackle and down the west sideline to give the Titans a 7-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first quarter.
But Corner Canyon answered right back to start the second quarter.
Johnson reached up and grabbed an interception, and the 200-pound linebacker returned it to the 12-yard line. After a bad snap, Hagen hit Mitchell in the middle of the end zone, and the long-limbed wideout went up and over a pair of Olympus defenders to snag a 15-yard touchdown grab with 11:06 remaining in the half.
After the safety, Austin Bell scored on a 3-yard run for Corner Canyon to go up 14-9. But Frank’s 29-yard strike to Bennee gave the Titans the one-point halftime advantage.
It was Corner Canyon’s first halftime deficit since Oct. 25, 2016, when the Chargers fell behind Orem 23-12 en route to a 23-19 loss in a Class 4A state play-in game.
And Olympus’ defense nearly made it stand up.
Benne pulled down two of his interceptions in the second half to go along with four tackles for the Titans, who forced 11 tackles for loss and four sacks in providing the right amount of pressure to keep the Chargers out of the end zone through the third quarter.
Then, with one final act of desperate heroism, Hagen, Mitchell and the Chargers had one final chance.
And Johnson found the redemption he so desperately needed. The Titans had one final shot at the winning touchdown — but Andrew Mcdonald picked off Frank in the final seconds to send the Chargers to their first state title game in the school’s brief history.
“This year, we worked hard in the weight room and in the offseason, and we really got our stuff down and felt a lot more confident,” Johnson said. “We just have a lot of guys that love each other.”
