Herriman Defeats East in Early-Season Utah Rivalry Meeting
Herriman Defeats East in Early-Season Utah Rivalry Meeting
Herriman and East, the only single school programs in Utah's combined Tier 1, met in an early season match after getting their feet wet at the Puriri Invitational last week.
Defending state champion East was looking to establish itself after an uneven showing in that warmup tournament, while Herriman was looking to continue its momentum from a strong start.
Both teams came in to this game nursing some injuries from a week ago, with East down a starting center and Herriman down four starters in total and running out a lineup with only three seniors.
After a scoreless 15 minutes that saw Herriman probe the big defensive line of East several times without points, shifty wing Sione Nau sliced and diced his way to a score from a nice offload by Kemper Castro. Fullback Asher Coleman lined up the difficult sideline conversion and cleared the posts with plenty of distance to spare for a 7-0 lead.
After giving the assist on the first try, it was Castro's turn cross over,, which he did twice in quick succession. The 6-4, 230 sophomore lock took a lineout, saw the defense paying too much attention to the backline, and pulled the ball down and sprinted 40 meters for a score, showing remarkable pace and athleticism. Minutes later, flyhalf and captain Lucky Fisi'peau (who put the Mustangs in good field position with a deft 50-22) sent a skip pass to the outside channel, where Castro was waiting once again. Showing why he is a highly sought-after football recruit, the big man looked like a wing and ran right past a defense that had no answer for him for another long distance score. Coleman drilled both conversions to send the Mustangs to a 21-0 halftime lead.
Both teams came out for the second half with renewed energy, and a bit of sloppy play saw repeated infringements and a yellow card shown to players from each team.
Flyhalf Rex Bateman made several nice plays to put East down close, and a string of successive Herriman penalties gave the Leopards enough opportunities in close that they were able to punch one over to cut the deficit to 21-5. East took advantage of some sloppiness from Herriman and pushed the ball inside the 5-meter-line again, but this time the Mustang defense made a stand. In what seemed to be double digit phases down close, East kept charging hard with their bigger pack, but found the Herriman defense equal to the challenge.
A gritty goalline stand, led by junior defensive stalwart Cannon Brinton and freshman prop Sam To'a, held and held until junior TJ Tuia forced a turnover. The ball made its way out wide to wing Troy Ellermeier, who turned on the jets and was gone the other way for a backbreaking swing in momentum—all made possible by Herriman's defensive effort.
Now up 26-5, Herriman kept its foot on the gas pedal and were rewarded with a long try from junior center MacRae Parker, who finally broke free after a day of drawing in defenders as the focal point of the East defense. The physical, punishing Parker, showing he also has pace, saw his gap, accelerated, and was gone, and the conversion made it 33-5. Bateman made sure East wasn't going down lightly with a quick try down the sideline, but Herriman would let things get no closer.
After a lineout steal from sophomore Kyler Holverson, Herriman worked the ball just inside the 22. Coleman, seeing East a bit too aggressive, popped a cheeky kick over the advancing defense. Freshman center Max Wilson sprinted right by the fullback and touched down in goal for his first Varsity try and a 40-12 advantage. East added another score just before the final whistle to dress up the final margin a bit at 40-17, but it could not take the luster off of a strong showing from the young Herriman side against a quality East team.
