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.

Brighton

2021 record: 8-3

The Bengals had some early trouble finding a way to reach their high expectations with two losses in their first five games. However, they ended the regular season winning five straight games before getting upset by the 21 seed Orem Tigers. While it was a disappointing ending, their story is just beginning for 2022.

Justin Hemm was hired to be the football coach for the Bengals in 2019 and their success quickly reached an upward trajectory. He was named the Deseret News 5A Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm. He also led his team to an undefeated regular season in 2020. The next step is to capture that elusive state title at some point in his tenure.

Jack Johnson should once again be the starting quarterback for the Bengals. He will be a junior this year and has already amassed 2616 passing yards. This experience bodes well for one of the contenders in 5A.

East

2021 record: 5-7

The start of last season was not an easy one for the East High Leopards as they found different ways to lose their first four games. Whether it was a blowout loss to Corner Canyon or a narrow loss to Park City, the Leopards needed some time to find their footing. They won three of their last five regular season games and made a deeper run than expected in the state playoffs, though. They finally met their match in the quarterfinals with a 21-7 loss to Stansbury.

Brandon Matich has been the coach of the Leopards since 2010. While his team won 10 games in 2019, that win total has slowly declined since then. He will need to figure out how to get his team back on track.

It is possible that Siona Vailahi will be the starting quarterback as he was the primary backup. While he only completed 3-15 passes last year, that’s a small sample size that won’t determine his ceiling yet. He needs to prove his worth in an open quarterback competition this offseason.

Highland

2021 record: 1-8

The Rams had a rough year in 2021 which was apparent with their lone win coming in a dominating home win over Murray. They had a couple other chances to win as two of their losses were by single digits. Their ceiling wasn’t high and they couldn’t hit that. It will take a makeover to improve this team this year.

Kautai Olevao is the head coach for Highland and was a linebacker for the Utah Utes from 1995 to 2000. While his first year wasn’t successful, he will look to rebuild the team in his second season.

With the graduation of Ashton Zwick, it is unclear who will be named the starting quarterback. It will be imperative that the new signal caller executes the spread offense that the team has set in place. Last year it was rough when first implemented in a 35-0 loss to Pine View after the cancellation of their opening game due to COVID.

Murray

2021 record: 3-7

The way the Spartans started the season was not a precursor of things to come. After beating struggling teams in Hillcrest and Copper Hills to start the season, they only won one game after that. They went 3-1 in non-region games but went winless against their familiar competition. It wasn’t the fact that they lost to their rivals, but how they lost that was the problem. None of their losses to Region 6 foes were within single digits.

Todd Thompson began coaching the team in 2017 and has had only one winning season since then. It seemed promising when his team went 8-4 and won a playoff game in 2019. However, it has been a difficult time since then for many teams due to the COVID pandemic. Time will tell how Thompson will recover from the setback of these last two years.

Jack Jensen, the backup quarterback from last year, is likely to start this year. He completed a slightly higher percentage of his passes than the starter last year. Time will tell whether he can maintain that 63 percent clip with a higher sample size. It would also help if he threw more touchdowns than interceptions this year. He had zero passing touchdowns and five interceptions last year.

Olympus

2021 record: 7-5

It’s hard to explain exactly what happened to Olympus this year. Whether it was their four straight wins or five game losing streak, the Titans could be be best described as a team who fed off momentum. When they had it, they were able to be a talented team and beat some of their rivals. When they didn’t, it was a struggle to win games.

Aaron Whitehead has been a highly successful coach and has dominated the Battle of the Rock in his tenure at Olympus. There have been some close battles, but Olympus has come out on top. It is a stark contrast from the drought that Olympus faced in the 1990’s when Skyline was a powerhouse.

After being the primary backup quarterback last year, Chase Moseley is likely to lead the offense this year. While he completed 62 percent of his passes, he still struggled as he had zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

Park City

2021 record: 5-6

While Park City struggled early with three close losses to start the year, they turned their season around with a state playoff win over Skyline. That was an upset that many were surprised by.

Coach Josh Montzingo has adapted well to change in his role. He led the Miners to special seasons in 2018 and 2019 which was capped off with a runner-up state championship run.

Chase Beyer will be a senior this year for Park City. As the starting quarterback last year, Beyer completed 57 percent of his passes. While he completed 21 passing touchdowns last year, he will need to protect the football more. He threw 10 picks last year, so single digits would be a good goal.

Skyline

2021 record: 6-5

After Juan Diego and Springville gave the Eagles fits early on, they settled down and started to find their groove. Their defense was their calling card as they held opponents to an average of 11.6 points per game in their wins. Their offense will need to take a step forward if they want to be competitive in 5A.

Coach John Rowbotham is looking to build off the success his team had at times last year. He was hired last year so he is just getting started. He also had deep respect for former Skyline coaching legend Roger Dupaix. Rowbotham made sure he was honored along with the Juan Diego great John Colosimo in the season opener last year.

Alexander Perry split time at quarterback last year. While he only completed 45 percent of his passes, he did have nine touchdowns and just six interceptions. He could help the team take the next step if he has a great senior year.

Featured image via Deseret News