The Hive Sports

by Daniel Olsen

The 2022 high school football season begins in August. In this preview series, we will break down all you need to know about high school football for the 2022 season. These previews of each region will catch you up on storylines surrounding every high school team in Utah.

Cyprus

2021 record: 1-10

It was a challenging year for the Cyprus Pirates as their only win was over Taylorsville in a dominating 45-13 home victory. The good news is that was a Region 2 win that could give them some momentum going into this season. Their last winning season was in 2018.

The team is coached by Tyler Garcia, who also has a receivers coach on staff named Dante Ramirez. Ramirez drew headlines when he was reportedly hired in 2020 after multiple rejections which he attributed to his disability. Ramirez is deaf, but he has been able to help the team in so many ways and dreams of being a college coach some day.

Junior quarterback Skyler Armenta should be the likely starter when the Pirates kick off this fall. He completed just over 50 percent of his passes. The one thing he will have to do is cut down the turnovers. He had almost twice the interceptions (15) as he did passing touchdowns (8). If he can get closer to a 1-1 ratio, maybe the Pirates can at least double their win total from last year.

Granger

2021 record: 2-9

Granger did not fare much better than Cyprus as they only won two games last year. They beat Taylorsville 45-13 and etched out Cyprus by a point thanks to a kick return touchdown in the final quarter.

Coach Pala Vaitu’u has been at the helm since 2019 and has been working to bring his team from the depths of the winless season in his first year. Even getting to a .500 record would be a huge accomplishment for this team.

Granger’s success depends in part on how their quarterback situation develops. Garrett Cousins has the most experience of the returning talent, and he could really bolster their offense if he can match the success that their run game has had. He threw for 637 yards last year and completed just over 53 percent of his passes. The magic number seems to be around a 60 percent completion rate for elite quarterbacks in the state.

Hunter

2021 Record: 3-7

There were several struggling teams in Region 2 last year and Hunter was no exception. They lost their first four games, including all of their non-region matchups. On the bright side, they went 3-3 after that to close the regular season. They struggled against Layton in the first round of the State Playoffs, losing by two touchdowns.

The Wolverines hired a new head coach in the offseason – former Hunter High and University of Hawaii graduate Harold Moleni. His experience with a variety of sports, namely rugby, football and basketball have prepared him to be a unique candidate for this important position.

With the graduation of Omarion Jackson, the senior quarterback for the 2021-2022 season, a new leader will be required to take the majority of the reps. So far, it looks like that will be Uluaki Taukiuvea. He completed 48 percent of his passes last year on 54 attempts. He will need to either pass near the same 56 percent clip as Jackson did, or commit less turnovers to be successful.

Kearns

2021 record: 7-5

After talking about the upside of three teams that struggled last year, it’s a timely moment to highlight a team that won more than they lost: the Kearns Cougars. After an inconsistent season, especially on the road where they went 2-3, the Cougars won an exciting playoff game over Fremont in overtime. Region 2 had some bragging rights over Region 1 after earning a hard fought win like this. However, Corner Canyon proved in the following 49-14 win over the Cougars that there is still a talent gap in the 6A division that only Lone Peak has been able to crack.

Coach Matt Rickards has been leading Kearns for nearly a decade now. Since 2013, he has been setting a high standard for his team. After struggling in his first two seasons, Coach Rickards has fielded winning teams every year.

It is a little bit of a mystery who will be the next starting quarterback with the graduation of last year’s starter, JT Toiaivao. The three contenders who took at least one snap for Kearns last year were Isaac Luckart, Kayden Morrey and Dominic Thornton. Neither of these players threw more than five passing attempts last year. It will be interesting so see how the starting quarterback decision will be made.

Roy

2021 record: 7-4

After a stellar 8-2 record in a pandemic-riddled 2020 season, the Royals took just a half-step back in 2021. It may have carried over from the rough ending. After winning eight straight in 2020, the Royals lost their final regular season game to Weber, followed by a heartbreaking loss to West in the first round of the State Playoffs. In 2021, they made the switch from Region 1 to Region 2. While they played well, they again fell in a one-possession loss in the first round of the State Playoffs, this time to the WestLake Thunder.

Chris Solomona has been promoted from the defensive line coach to the head coach of the Roy Royals starting in this upcoming season. While he is a new leader, he at least will be a familiar face in the locker room.

The Royals will also look to new leadership at the quarterback position. With the graduation of BYU commit Parker Kingston, the Royals will likely look to the next most experienced guy. While Cole West only completed 21 percent of his passes last year, it was a small sample size. If he can trend upward with more reps, his team has the opportunity to do the same.

Taylorsville

2021 record: 0-9

2021 is a year the Taylorsville Warriors football fans would like to forget. Not only did they lose every game, but they lost every game by over 30 points. Their last winning season was in 2014.

Chris Rosales was promoted last year from defensive coordinator to head coach for the Warriors. While he was hoping that the addition of freshman at the high school would help their team be more of a cohesive unit, it looks like the results might be delayed.

Jordan Karle will most likely be the starting quarterback again this year. He is hoping to improve on last year’s campaign which resulted in 345 passing yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. If he can find a way to move the chains and make games more competitive, then his team will have a shot.

West

2021 record: 8-2

It has been back-to-back dream seasons for the West High Panthers. While COVID was tough for some teams, the Panthers got tougher as they won the Region 2 Championship along with a State Playoff game over Granger nine days after beating them in their regular season finale.

Olosaa Solovi is the man behind the rise to success as his ability to connect to the kids on the football team is what has made him successful as a head coach. He will need to unite the team better than ever to compete with other teams in the largest division in the state.

This year there will likely be a competitive battle between Isaiah SueSue and Ma’a Foloti for the starting job. Both had significant backup reps last year, but SueSue as the older player might have the advantage. On the other hand, he only converted 25-48 of his passes while Foloti eclipsed a 65 percent completion rate. It will be interesting to see who wins the battle.

Featured image courtesy Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News