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.
