The first game was no fluke after all. First-year starting quarterback
Easton Comer threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to
Crew McChesney with 2 minutes, 27 seconds remaining Friday to lift
Lone Peak (Highland) to a wild 49-42 victory over three-time defending champion
Corner Canyon (Draper) in Utah's Class 6A high school football championship game.
It was the second victory over the Chargers this season after a stunning 41-16 win Oct. 7, ending Corner Canyon's 48-game win streak. Most figured the Chargers (12-2) would take the rematch. Despite Corner Canyon quarterback
Devin Brown breaking the state single-season record for passing yards and accounting for five touchdowns, Lone Peak (10-2) prevailed at Rice Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.
Much of the thanks can go to Comer, who completed 11-of-18 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns, three to McChesney.
Brown had tied the score at 42-42 with his fourth TD pass, evading heavy pressure and completing a 12-yard strike to
Jon King with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Knights went to the ground, chewed up almost seven minutes and on third down, Comer found a wide open McChesney on a post route, giving Lone Peak the lead for good.
Takeao Hansen intercepted a long, tipped pass from Brown on Corner Canyon's first play of the next drive and the Knights ran out the clock setting off a wild celebration to a wild game.
The first half alone featured 70 points and more than 800 yards of offense. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, it was the highest regulation scoring championship game in state history and the 1,074 total yards was second most.
Easton Comer avoided all Corner Canyon pressure Friday to throw for four touchdowns, three to Crew McChesney, in Lone Peak's 49-42 6A state final victory.
File photo by Dave Argyle
"We proved them wrong," Hansen told KSLSports.com afterward."They didn't think we could beat them twice. But we did it."
"What a game," Lone Peak head coach Bart Brockbank said. "There wasn't much defense in the first half. But we got the stops we needed in the second half. We did it."
Brown, the fifth-rated quarterback in the country by 247Sports, needed 297 yards to break the state record of 4.726 set by Cammon Cooper of Lehi. The transfer from Arizona, who replaced 2020 MaxPreps National Player of the Year Jaxson Dart, had 298 yards passing by halftime to break the record. He finished with 380 passing yards.
Brown is committed to join Dart next year at USC.
Both coaching staffs made adjustments at halftime with more than 10 minutes of scoreless action before Durfey powered through the line on a 7-yard run with 1:15 left in the third to give Lone Peak a 42-35 lead.
King jumped offside on a key third-down play, but made up for it when Brown somehow evaded pressure and fired a 46-yard completion to him. That set up King's tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
But Comer wouldn't be denied, helping to end Corner Canyon's three-year reign and 15-game playoff win streak.
"I'm not going to lie," McChesney said, fighting back tears. "It's the best thing ever. It's awesome."
