Corner Canyon will be in the state semifinals for the sixth consecutive season after the Chargers defeated West 35-7 Friday evening. The Draper school broke the Panthers’ eight game win streak and continued its domination of Utah high school football with the comfortable quarterfinal victory.
“We knew they were going be a really good team,” Corner Canyon head coach Eric Kjar said of West following the contest. “We knew we’d have our hands full. … That’s a really good team. I’m just proud of our kids because you want to go out week in and week out and play really good teams and challenge yourself and we told our kids they were going to be challenged big time this week and our kids responded and played well.”
Corner Canyon was dominant on offense and defense, scoring touchdowns on three of its first four drives while holding West scoreless through the first three quarters. Once the Chargers got the lead, their defense forced four turnovers on downs and one interception. It took West four possessions to cross midfield into Corner Canyon territory. That’s when senior linebacker and BYU commit Owen Borg picked off the Panthers, ending the drive.
“Our defense really came to play today,” Borg said. “We beat them with our physicality. … We were ready to go.”
On the other side of the ball, senior running back Drew Patterson led the way, scoring the Chargers’ first four touchdowns.
“He’s a stud,” Kjar said of his running back. “He played really, really well. We know we can hang our hat on him. He’s just a tough football player. I love the way he shows up every day. He works hard. He plays both ways. He’s a baller.”
Corner Canyon took a 21-0 lead into the break after its defense forced a turnover on downs, keeping West off the board on the Panthers’ most promising drive of the half. Patterson scored again on the Chargers’ first drive of the second half, hastening the end of Panther’s season.
West finally found the end zone down 35-0 in the fourth quarter on a quarterback keeper from Isaiah SueSue.
The Panthers’ seven points proved to be West’s worst offensive performance against a Utah school this season. Corner Canyon’s stifling defense made things difficult on the Panthers all night.
“Our defense played awesome,” Kjar said. “They were lights out. … That’s a great group. They’ve continued to improve throughout the year too. It’s been awesome to watch that group evolve.”
The win inches the Chargers ever closer to what could be its fourth state championship in football. Borg admits that the team draws motivation from losing the state title game a season ago but says this roster has seen a lot of changes since then.
“We lost like 19 of the 22 starters from last year,” he said. “We’ve all stepped up and we’re all ready to go. We were made for this. We’re ready.”
Corner Canyon will have a chance to prove that starting next week when it meets Farmington on Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. A win would send the school to its fifth consecutive state championship game. The Chargers and the Phoenix are scheduled to begin play at 11 a.m.