Prep football: Soaring Eagle's aerial attack dooms Juab

In Juan Diego's 56-0 drubbing of Juab in the first round of the Class 3A state football playoffs Friday, the Soaring Eagle made sure to let the Wasps -- and the rest of 3A -- know exactly who are the returning champs.

Juan Diego exemplified a first-place seed against the Wasps, needing only two quarters to build up a 42-0 lead, then never looking back.

Coach John Colosimo knew his team had momentum coming into the postseason. After he saw a hole in the Wasps' secondary early, he knew exactly how to exploit it.

"I thought that if we came out and fired on all four cylinders like we had the last four weeks that we could have a positive outcome. They loaded the box so much that it gave us an opportunity to throw the ball, and we were able to capitalize on it."

Quarterback Cody Stevenson reaped the benefits of the Wasps' lacking pass defense, leading most of the Soaring Eagle's offense.

Playing with a no-huddle offense, Stevenson exemplified poise in the pocket while showing off his long ball to his wideouts.

Keegan Andersen was Stevenson's most popular receiver and supreme benefactor from the long balls in the first half. He finished with 202 yards and three touchdowns on only five catches before being subbed out with Stevenson in the third quarter.

Stevenson finished with 296 yards on only eight completions and four touchdowns, but as scary as it must sound for the rest of 3A, he feels closer with his receiving

"It felt good. We had to come out and had to put points up real quick and we did a god job of that," Stevenson said. "There's a lot of pressure, but after the first few plays it goes away. I trusted everyone, did my job, and everything else went away. I have tons of more trust in my line and receivers now."