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.

Bingham

2021 record: 7-5

While they went 2-3 in non-region games, the Miners were able to have a successful season as the second place team in Region 3. They were especially dominant at home, posting a 4-1 record at the Bingham High School Athletic Complex.

A new coach will be leading the team this fall. Eric Jones, the former defensive coordinator at Roy High School, was hired to replace the legend Dave Peck. His eleven years of coaching experience should help him reshape the defense of an elite Bingham team that already allowed just over 9.5 points per game.

Dallen Martínez looks to be the starter again after throwing a team high seven touchdowns in 1125 yards. While it takes a full team to win, this team can only build upon their success if every player is bought in. He was really talented when playing at the top of his game, but tended to lose by double digits in the games where his team wasn’t favored. Either his completion percentage was down or the interceptions were up in most of those losses. He will look to play to his full potential this fall.

Copper Hills

2021 record: 0-9

Since August 28, 2020, Copper Hills has not won a regular season game. Last year only one of their losses was by single digits in an overtime heartbreaker at home to Viewmont. The Grizzlies are hoping to turn their program around. That has proven to be difficult at a school that has 17 state championships but not one winning football season since the school opened in 1995.

Coach Corey Dodds hopes to be that guy. He has been leading the Grizzlies since 2016 and seemed to be trending upward until last year. His team improved from zero wins in his first year to four wins in 2020. He was a linebacker for the University of Utah from 2001-2004.

With the graduation of Brady Wardle, the starting quarterback last year for the Grizzlies, a new starter will be leading the team this year. That will most likely be last year’s backup, Hyrum Perkins. He completed six passes for 30 yards in his junior campaign. With a greater sample size, Grizzlies fans can only hope that he will throw the first of many touchdown passes this season. He didn’t have any touchdowns or interceptions last year and completed just 37.5 percent of his passes.

Herriman

2021 record: 4-8

The Herriman Mustangs got out to a rough start and never really recovered. They never had a winning record at any point in the season and most of their losses were by double digits. Had their two losses to Mountain Ridge and Kearns swung their way, maybe it would have been viewed as a more respectable season.

Coach Dustin Pearce has been the leader of the Mustangs since he was hired in 2013. Prior to that he was a head coach for Hunter and offensive coordinator for Granger. He will look to bring the Mustangs their first winning season since 2019.

Jack Lounsbury is likely to be the starter after the graduation of Jason White. Lounsbury has the potential to be an elite thrower if he can improve his accuracy. He completed 36 percent of his passes in limited reps last season. He did have one passing touchdown, but also threw three interceptions.

Mountain Ridge

2021 record: 8-3

Mountain Ridge started out the 2021 campaign with six straight wins. However, they dropped two of their final four games to fall to third in the Region 11 standings. They then took an early exit in the State Playoffs with a 35-23 loss to the Syracuse Titans of Region 1.

Coach Mike Meifu is the head coach of the Sentinels after spending time as the offensive coordinator at Snow College and Southern Virginia University. He is looking to help his team maintain a stranglehold over the crosstown rivalry with the Harriman Mustangs, a team that they beat in overtime last year in their first ever meeting.

The starting quarterback will most likely be Rylen Balser. He was the backup last year and completed 68 percent of his passes, albeit in a smaller sample size. If he can come close to that rate as the starter, the Sentinels will only build on the special season they had last year.

Riverton

2021 record: 8-4

The Silverwolves finished at the top of the Region 3 standings last year. Their only region loss was a 20-16 road game at West Jordan. They had a special season thanks to two close wins over Mountain Ridge and Dixie. Their losses were all close and their other wins were all by double digits.

Jody Morgan was hired as the football coach for the Silverwolves starting in 2018. He previously served as the offensive coordinator for Herriman. He will look to help the Silverwolves build upon their already great season from last year.

Jake Meyers is likely to be the starting quarterback next season. He completed 53 percent of his passes last year as the backup quarterback. He will need to cut down the turnovers to be successful as he threw nine interceptions.

West Jordan

2021 record: 8-3

After a six game winning streak to start the 2021 campaign, West Jordan dropped two straight games to mark their lowest point in the season. They were two different types of excruciating losses – an overtime loss to Mountain Ridge and a humbling 42-0 shutout at the hands of Bingham. They still managed to finish with a respectable 3-2 record to finish fourth place in Region 3. That set them up for a first round 27-0 victory over Clearfield. They were then humbled yet a second time to Bingham by a 37-7 score.

Ron Halbert had a great first year as the coach of the West Jordan Jaguars. He turned the program around from a 3-7 record in 2020 to a winning season. He will look to pick up where he left off when his team resumes play this fall.

After the graduation of last year’s starting quarterback Boston Farmer, the next leader of the team is likely to be last year’s primary backup: Dameon Crosby. He completed 9-18 passes as a freshman last year and has the potential to start. The Jaguars might not be the favorite this year, but they could be contenders in the coming years if they all work together.

Featured image courtesy Deseret News