Timpview, Bingham claim Utah high school football state titles

SALT LAKE CITY — Nothing could stop Britain Covey from making critical plays with a football championship on the line.

Facing an imposing East (Salt Lake City) defense, Covey endured enough hits to get his bell thoroughly rung. But it didn't prevent the Timpview (Provo, Utah) quarterback from leaving his fingerprints all over an impressive victory.

Covey passed for 273 yards and a pair of touchdowns and tallied 85 yards and two more scores on the ground to lead Timpview to a 33-28 come-from-behind victory for the Class 4A state championship on Friday at the University of Utah.

"Anything and everything you can ask of him, he'll do," Timpview coach Cary Whittingham said. "He just commanded that offense like a field general — doing everything the coaches wanted him to do. He had very few mistakes."

His final touchdown, a 9-yard touchdown run with 3:00 remaining in the fourth quarter, offered a snapshot of the trouble Covey caused for East. He eluded tacklers and scampered into the end zone to put the Thunderbirds (13-1) ahead for good.

It's a play Covey did not remember at all after the game ended.

"I actually think I have a concussion right now," said Covey, who went back into the game after Timpview trainers checked him out. "I don't even remember who scored on that last drive. I think it was me. I took some big hits, but it was well-worth it – unless I have permanent brain damage, which I'm really praying I don't."

Timpview won't soon forget the effort put forth by Covey. He turned everything after East (13-1) appeared poised to run away with its first state title since 1996.

Preston Curtis rushed for 154 yards and Ula Tolutau chipped in 121 yards — on 15 carries apiece — to power a strong Leopards ground game. East dominated both lines of scrimmage in the first quarter and took control early.

Tolutau mowed over a defender near the goal line to put East on the board on the team's opening drive. The Leopards needed only a single play on their next possession — a 67 yard gallop by senior quarterback Isaac Valles — to take a 13-0 lead.

Timpview finally got the engine running on offense in the second quarter. The T-Birds gained some momentum when Isaiah Nacua forced a fumble and jumped on the ball at the East 7-yard line. It set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Covey to Rhett Van Leeuwen a minute into the quarter.

Things got a litte crazy at that point. Curtis took a pitch and sprinted 70 yards to give the Leopards a 19-7 lead one play later. Timpview answered with its own one-play drive when Covey found Van Leeuwen on a deep route and he turned it into a 67-yard touchdown catch, cutting the deficit to 19-14.

Curtis gave East breathing room again on a 6-yard scoring run. But the Leopards could not find the end zone again after halftime. East just managed 90 total yards in the second half.

It gave Covey and Timpview the opening they needed. Covey gave the T-Birds a 27-25 lead on a 4-yard keeper in the third quarter. Then, after Isaac Anthony made a 19-yard field goal with 5:41 left in the fourth, Covey answered with the go-ahead touchdown.

East had one last chance to retake the lead, but Gabe Reid sacked Valles on fourth-and-6 with a minute left to secure the win.

"When it comes to playing against these guys, you're going to have to make plays," Covey said. "Everyone on our team stepped up and made some plays, so I guess what I had to do is make plays — take broken plays and turn them around into a positive."

Timpview 0 21 6 6 33

East 13 12 0 3 28

First quarter –

E – Tolutau 2 run (kick failed), 8:31

E – Valles 67 run (Anthony kick), 6:39

Second quarter –

T – Van Leeuwen 5 pass from Covey (Clarke kick), 11:09

E – Curtis 70 run (Anthony kick), 10:53

T – Van Leeuwen 67 pass from Covey (Clarke kick), 10:34

E – Curtis 6 run (run failed), 3:57

T – Case 1 run (Clarke kick), :53

Third quarter –

T – Covey 4 run (kick failed), 9:58

Fourth quarter –

E – Anthony 19 field goal, 5:41

T – Covey 9 run (Pass failed), 3:00

Bingham (South Jordan) 38, Brighton (Salt Lake City) 13

Momentum did not favor Bingham going into halftime.

The Miners had just lost their starting quarterback, Kyle Gearig, to a concussion. Brighton had cut a three touchdown lead down to one right before going into the locker room. It seemed like everything that could go wrong was starting to trend in that direction.

After halftime, Bingham left no question about where it stood this season. The Miners shut out Brighton in the second half and pulled away for a 38-13 victory to claim the Class 5A Championship at the University of Utah on Friday.

Scott Nichols led Bingham (14-0) with 165 rushing yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Nichols also caught a 51-yard touchdown pass. Osa Masina had 136 yards on 18 carries to lead the Bengals (12-2), who had five turnovers against the Miners — three coming after halftime.

"I don't think there's a second half this year that we didn't win and didn't come out and take care of business," Bingham coach Dave Peck said.

Bingham owned the first quarter. Gearig cashed in the Miners' opening drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. On the team's next drive, he found Nichols on a delayed wheel route. Nichols hauled in the pass along the sideline and took it 51 yards for a score.

Brighton put itself into a really big hole after Ruben Gomez recovered a fumble at the Bengal 33. Bingham cashed in one play later with Gearig connecting with Landen Measom for 33 yards to put the Miners up 21-0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter.

The Bengals finally showed some signs of life in the second quarter after taking advantage of a pair of Bingham turnovers. A fumble recovery set up an 11 yard scoring run from Robbie Hutchins. Then Sione Heimuli-Lund snagged a Gearig pass and returned it 46 yards to cut Bingham's lead to 21-13 with 1:33 left before halftime.

Gearig suffered a concussion after getting hit in the head on the play. He did not return to the game. His absence galvanized Bingham. The Miners clamped down after halftime on both sides of the ball.

"We needed all the stops that they made," Nichols said. "It just changes the game around. It changes your mindset around."

Bingham chewed nearly nine minutes off the clock with their opening drive of the third quarter and capped it off with a 20 yard field goal from Chayden Johnston to take a 24-13 lead.

Defensively, Bingham forced Brighton to turn over the ball on three of its four second-half drives. A fumble by Hutchins near midfield set up Nichols' 19 yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter, giving Bingham a 38-13 lead. Sky Manu then took an interception back 62 yards with 1:24 left to cap the scoring for the Miners.

Brighton 0 13 0 0 13

Bingham 21 0 3 14 38

First quarter –

BI – Gearing 14 run (Johnston kick), 8:07

BI – Nichols 51 pass from Gearing (Johnston kick), 6:12

BI – Measom 33 pass from Gearing (Johnston kick), 2:48

Second quarter –

BR – Hutchins 11 run (Dall kick), 2:08

BR – Heimuli-Lund 46 Int return (kick failed), 1:33

Third quarter –

BI – Johnston 20 Field Goal, 2:57

Fourth quarter –

BI – Nichols 19 run, 8:43

BI – Manu 62 Int return, 1:24

Desert Hills (St. George) 27, Pine View (St. George) 21

Subduing opponents with defense has been a trademark for Desert Hills this season.

This time around, the Thunder punctuated another strong defensive effort with a dramatic end-of-game rally on offense.

Landon Broadhead broke through tackles and punched in a 2-yard touchdown run on the final play to lift Desert Hills to a 27-21 victory over the Panthers on Friday night at the University of Utah.

The Thunder (11-2) claimed the Class 3AA football championship — their first ever state title. Bridger Cowdin led the way with 86 yards on 15 carries.

Pine View (9-3) came up short in a state title game for the fourth time under head coach Ray Hosner. He also directed the Panthers to runner-up finishes in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Kody Wilstead threw for 332 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-40 passing. But Wilstead also threw four interceptions.

Desert Hills and Pine View combined for six interceptions and it kept both offenses out of sync at various times in the game.

The Thunder jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter behind a 1-yard run from Broadhead and a 37-yard catch by Braden Reber.

Pine View rallied. The Panthers tied the game when Wilstead found Bladen Hosner for a 49-yard pass in the third quarter. They took a 21-14 lead early in the fourth on a 5-yard run from Pano Tiatia.

Desert Hills matched the rally with an even better one. Nick Warmsley scored on a 2-yard keeper to make it 21-21. Then, after Wilstead threw his fourth interception, the Thunder took over at the Pine View 48-yard line and concluded the drive with Broadhead's game winning run.

Desert Hills 7 7 0 13 27

Pine View 0 7 7 7 21

First quarter –
D - Broadhead 1 run (Spray kick), 4:46

Second quarter –
D - Reber 37 pass from Warmsley (Spray kick), 9:13
P - Tiatia 1 run (Clark kick), 3:31

Third quarter –
P - Hosner 49 pass from Wilstead (Clark kick), 7:53

Fourth quarter –
P - Tiatia 5 run (Ethan Baer kick), 10:02
D - Warmsley 2 run (Hunter Spray kick), 6:02
D - Broadhead 2 run, :00

John Coon covers Utah high school sports for MaxPreps.com. He is a former prep sports reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News. You can contact him at john_coon@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @johncoonsports.