This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Never complain about more football.
After squandering a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter at Hurricane on Friday, Skyline's first-year coach, Zac Erekson, viewed the situation as a chance for his kids to compete under pressure. Result: a stunning 28-27 win over the Tigers in overtime.
"I said, 'Guys, you know what this is? This is an opportunity for us to play more football. We spent five hours on the bus, what a great opportunity to get a couple more plays out of the deal,'" Erekson said. "One of our captains took over after that," he added. "We talk about our four hallmarks every day. Our second hallmark is effort. You better go all out, or get out. That's what we did. They stepped up."
Hurricane completed its improbable rally when Tobie Swenson hauled in a 70-yard reception after Skyline's defensive backs failed to bat the ball down — a drill Erekson said is practiced every Wednesday — with no time remaining in regulation.
"We didn't execute," Erekson said.
Hurricane scored first in the overtime, but the Eagles matched the touchdown, then elected to go for the win and successfully converted their ensuing two-point conversion to earn the victory.
"We have a couple wrinkles up our sleeves for those situations," Erekson said. "Our kids executed them perfectly. If you're prepared for that type of stuff, then they find themselves in a moment that is not too big for them. We walked them through overtime situations. We told them our first two plays. They knew all of that going in. Some of them might have been surprised I chose to go for two, [but] I think the majority of them knew we were going to go for two."
Big fish
Week 1 wasn't exactly full of surprises and upsets. The top 10 programs in the state — Bingham, East, Lone Peak, Herriman, Timpview, Jordan, Alta, Davis, American Fork and Roy — collectively went 10-0 after racking up 385 points, with an average margin of victory of 24.7 points.
The statewide top 25 posted an overall record of 18-7. Six of those games involved two ranked teams, with the higher-ranked program winning all six.
No. 23 Ridgeline was the only program to lose against a non-ranked opponent (Skyridge).
Record watch
Let the countdown begin. Jordan receiver Spencer Curtis is in pursuit of multiple career individual UHSAA records this season.
After hauling in three passes for 87 yards and one touchdown in a win against Desert Hills, Curtis now has 184 career catches, which ranks fifth all-time. He's 47 off the pace of Fremont's Austin Raught's record of 231 set between the years of 2003-05.
Curtis is fourth in career receiving yards, with 3,204, which is 363 yards shy of Brighton's Simi Fehoko's mark of 3,571 set last season, and with 29 career receiving touchdowns — he's 12 away from tying Fehoko's record of 41. Curtis averaged 14 touchdowns the past two seasons.
Notable performances
• East's Jaylen Warren ran for 267 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, which equates to an incredible 17.8 yards per carry, to lead the Leopards to a dominating win against Syracuse.
• Skyridge's Cody Frampton completed 17 of 26 attempts for 330 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in a win against Ridgeline. Wyatt Parkinson had 192 yards receiving and three scores.
• Alta quarterback Will Dana connected on 72 percent of his throws for 275 yards and five touchdowns in the Hawks' victory against Taylorsville. Zach Engstrom found the end zone on three of those completions.
• Pleasant Grove's Tyler Trotter erupted for three sacks in his team's last-second win against Corner Canyon.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs