Two dominant signal callers in Tyler Messer and Jaxon Hunt are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Herriman Mustangs will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Mountain Ridge Sentinels at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Herriman sitting on seven straight wins and Mountain Ridge on four.
Herriman is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Lehi, who was ranked 14th at the time (Herriman was ranked seventh). The Mustangs won a game that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by the Pioneers 22-21. The 22-point effort marked the Mustangs' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Felisi Felipe had another great game (as he tends to do), rushing for 159 yards and two scores.
Meanwhile, Mountain Ridge got the win against Riverton on Friday by a conclusive 41-19. The Sentinels might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 22 points or more this season.
Herriman better keep an eye on Kohen Cunningham. He was instrumental in Mountain Ridge's win, picking up 301 receiving yards and four touchdowns. With that strong performance, Cunningham is now averaging an impressive 108.1 receiving yards per game. Ashton Gates was another key back, rushing for 128 yards and one TD on only ten carries.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Mountain Ridge proved: they limited Riverton to a paltry 2.4 yards per carry. While seven picked up at least two total tackles, Zach Ofisa stood above the rest. He rushed for 80 yards on only nine carries. Mountain Ridge's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.2 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 6.93 on average over their last five games.
Herriman's victory bumped their record up to 7-0. As for Mountain Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Herriman has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 250 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Mountain Ridge has preferred to attack from the air: they average 345.4 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Herriman came up short against Mountain Ridge when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 20-10. Will the Mustangs have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
