On a cold, snowy night in Herriman, the hosts overcame an early deficit to come out with an emphatic win over a talented Lions Academy squad.  

A spring snow hit the state hard earlier in the day, cancelling nearly all sporting events. With Herriman HS leaving on Spring Break the next day, however, it was imperative that the game be played if at all possible. Uncertainty early in the day changed to optimism as the skies cleared and the snow stopped about an hour before the 7pm kickoff. Freezing temperatures in the 20s coupled with after-work caucus voting, which took two hours in some locations, kept the crowd small, but those who braved the chilly air were treated to an entertaining game.

The hosts would start out as cold as the freezing temperatures, while the Lions would come out red hot. The opening kickoff found its way to speedy flyhalf and 7s star Colton Swapp, who stepped outside in to a gap and was off to the races. With only the fullback to beat, he deftly drew the defender in before finding captain and fellow 7s standout Keagan Barnes in support to finish the long distance try. Swapp was true on the conversion and it was a 7-0 Lions lead less than a minute in to the game. The Lions would keep the pressure on with continued running and kicking in to space, and Herriman was a bit slow to adjust, perhaps due to back to back games against large, physical teams East and Jordan. The Lions would threaten as close as the 5m line and were close to punching in another score, but Denver Osborne kept a much larger ball carrier from crossing the line and when the Lions player was called for not releasing, Herriman was able to clear the ball with a kick to touch from a penalty.  

The ensuing lineout would put the Mustangs finally on the front foot, as captain Leki Fotu would take the ball charging hard and force his way through several Lions defenders. Herriman would move the ball down the field with Anthony Perschon and Fotu, but would turn the ball over at the breakdown, leading to several more minutes of back and forth play. Perschon would make two more big breaks, the second coming off of a scrum which led to him offloading to inside center Noah Vaea. Vaea would slash and slice through the Lions defense and touch down from 30 meters out, but the Mustangs would miss the straight on conversion attempt, 7-5.

Herriman would use its newfound momentum quickly, taking advantage of a restart kicked out on the full by the Lions. Fotu would pick off the the scrum and rumble 40 meters to the 10 before being brought down by a hustling Swapp, and Karson Hammer was ready in support out wide from the ensuing ruck to touch down in the corner. Vaea would almost provide a score a minute later, chasing down his own errant kick at touch to catch it on the bounce in attack, but the Mustangs would squander the opportunity and allow the Lions to clear. Hammer took over from there, however. The dominant jumper who is beginning to conjure up memories of (former HSAA and Herriman standout and current University of Utah captain) Gabe Ruflin stole his third consecutive opposition lineout and then positioned himself out wide. After a Beto Lui line break, the ball found its way through the hands to the mobile lock forward who burst through a gap and past two defenders to touch down. Jaeron Masina was true with the boot for a 17-7 advantage. The hosts extended their lead immediately. Blindside Zak Barker put the defense on the back foot, and Tomasi Tonga executed a perfect switch with his midfield mate Vaea, who accelerated and cut through the heart of the defense for a dazzling 60 meter score, carrying several Lion defenders with him the last 5 to finish things off, with another Masina conversion to extend the lead to 24-7.  

A 30m penalty kick from Swapp gave the visitors a much needed reprieve but did little to slow Herriman, who had adjusted nicely to the Lions’ wide attack in to space by forcing the ball in to touch repeatedly to turn over possession. Fotu would once again carry a large pile down the field with him and after some nice work from the Herriman forwards, Lui would find another gap and shoot through for a 15m try and another Masina conversion to make the halftime score 31-10. Head Coach Derek Smith and Backs Coach Aylmer Kenny kept the Mustangs’ heads level and hungry while cleaning up some first half mental lapses, while Lions coaches Mike Cressler and Eric Swapp rejuvenated the spirits of their team and prompted some early fireworks on the second half restart.

Colton Swapp would repeat his fast start from the first half, nailing a 43m angled kick from a Herriman penalty on the kickoff and throwing in an excited fist pump for good measure. Herriman would put the restart in to touch, but Gabe Mahuinga would steal the Lions scrum put in for the third time and a 15m break would result in a penalty and a kick in to touch.   Misi Vakapuna would provide physical go forward and Vaea nearly completed a hat trick but was just short and pinged for attempting to carry over the line from the tackle, and Swapp would clear to avert the threat. A deep kick was cleared by Tonga, but Herriman was whistled offside on the chase and the Lions had a scoring chance. Swapp would miss a drop goal, however, and Tonga would bounce a beautiful 22m drop kick out at midfield. Tonga continued his stellar play with a grubber ahead that was chased down by Osborne at the 5m line, and after the ball was recycled from the breakdown sent a skip pass out wide to a waiting Fotu. The 6-7, 275 pounder showed remarkable pace to touch down in the corner.

Vaea would take a short restart in the air and the support formed a maul good for a 15 meter drive. After Fotu rumbled some more, Lui placed a perfect kick to the 5m line that was well chased down by Barnes, but resulted in a forward pass while the Lions scrambled to get out of their end. Fotu, perhaps feeling the defense keying on him from the scrum, popped to Perschon and the speedy scrumhalf was finally rewarded for his efforts, taking the score to 41-13. Two minutes later, another long break by Hammer was followed up with some excellent resourcing from newly inserted Sophomore halfback Isi Leakehe, and the ball would find Mahuinga in space. The nimble 220 pounder would hit an outside gap and was away for another Masina-converted Herriman score to make it 48-13.

The Lions would take advantage of an emptying Herriman bench with a quick turnover and a pair of penalties, the latter of which was tapped to Swapp, who put a streaking Ethan Burrows in to space. As he did all night, Swapp made the tough kick look easy, 48-20. Reserve prop Marcus Ortiz would threaten on the ensuing possession for Herriman from turnover ball, but once again Swapp would clear and avert the threat. Vaea, one of the few Mustang starters still on the field, would set up the final score for the hosts with a grubber through that was saved in to touch by the Lions at the 5m line, and then drawing in several defenders before hitting sophomore Flyhalf Maea Leakehe on the burst for a nicely timed unconverted score, 53-20. Barnes, who was right on the cusp of making several big plays all night, would make a nice break for the Lions and nearly score with time winding down, but Herriman stiffened up and held strong and cleared with a nifty run by David Fotu to draw full time.

Herriman heads to a week off on Spring Break with a win in hand but also plenty to work on before resuming league play with games against Alta and Olympus. The Lions have another stern test on Saturday as they take on a skilled and physical West Valley side.

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