This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
On the night East grabbed its first football state championship in almost 20 years, Jon Hatch wasn't shy about revealing his true colors to anyone that might look like a Leopards fan.
Like Superman, Hatch would pull open his blue jacket Friday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium and proudly show his now-undersized T-shirt, vintage 1996, that proclaims East High the kings of the Utah's Class 4A high school universe.
Hatch was the quarterback for the Leopards back when East beat Timpview a pair of times in the postseason — including the last time the Leopards won the state title. In '96, it was a 37-0 walloping of the Thunderbirds in the 4A championship that was played at a wet, muddy Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
Until Friday night at Rice-Eccles, the East-Timpview rivalry in recent years has been decidedly one-sided in the favor of the T-birds. But East brought back the past by pummeling Timpview 49-14 in the finale.
And the former greats of East High couldn't have been happier.
"Oh my gosh, it's such a relief to see the tradition carried on. These kids are so fast, this team is really impressive," Hatch said. "They've got so much speed, and the talent is just awesome."
The '96 Leopards had talent too, and it's being passed down along family lines.
Current Weber State assistant coach Jason Kaufusi was one of the top players in the state 19 years ago. His nephew, Loa Kaufusi, was a standout for East this season and caught one pass for 13 yards in the resounding victory this time around.
"It came up a lot with me," Loa Kaufusi said of comparisons between the present and past. "They were the last ones to show up — for awhile. We came out and executed."
The Leopards had a relatively narrow 21-14 advantage at halftime, but Kaufusi said that's when he began to believe his team would shake off the recent string of postseason losses to Timpview.
Last year, East fell to the Thunderbirds 18-8 in the first round. In 2013, Timpview beat East 33-28 in the 4A title game. The year before, it was a semifinal loss to T-birds that eliminated the Leopards.
"I don't know what was different. We just said we had to come out and we had to finish," Kaufusi said. "Halftime definitely was what changed it. We came out with some new plays to run and we said, 'We got it.' "
When the current players become legends in East folklore, it'll be names such as Kaufusi, Jaylen Warren and Johnnie Lang, among others, that'll live on.
And it might just be guys like Hatch that pass the word.
"I threw a lot more than this kid [Lang] did, but as you can tell, his completions aren't needed as much," Hatch said. "I did run one touchdown in my championship game, but it was one yard. It'll take an eternity to catch up with this guy."