Storylines<br>• Brock Jones throws for three touchdowns and 235 yards to help Lone Peak overcome a slow start.<br>• Sophomore Nate Ritchie boots field goals of 40 and 22 yards for Lone Peak.<br>• Herriman scores first on an 80-yard screen pass from Blake Freeland to Maeakafa Leakehe.
Herriman • A season opener isn’t the same as winning the state football title.
But Lone Peak quarterback Brock Jones, a sophomore when the Knights lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds to Herriman, remembered.
Jones tossed three touchdown passes and threw for 235 yards to help first-year Knight coach Bart Brockbank win his opener against the Mustangs, 26-13.
“It feels great after two years ago,” said the 6-foot-1, 170-pound quarterback. “That was a tough loss. It’s good to get it back.”
Jones said things hadn’t changed much since Brockbank was the Lone Peak offensive coordinator a year ago. And with the exception of two big plays by Herriman, the Knights seemed like the more confident team.
The Mustangs struck first on an 80-yard screen pass from Blake Freeland to Maeakafa Leakehe. Lone Peak grabbed a 7-6 lead on a 43-yard pass from Jones to Kaden Clemens, and increased that to 10-6 on the first of two field goals by sophomore Nate Ritchie, a 40-yarder.
Herriman grabbed the lead back on a 54-yard run by Tavish Darger, but that was short-lived as Jones hit Cody Collins on a 9-yard TD pass. Ritchie added a 22-yard field goal, then Jones ended any doubt with a late 7-yard TD pass to Collins.
“The nerves were kicking in at the beginning, but once we settled down as a team, it went good,” said Jones.
“We started slow but as Brock settled in, he definitely felt much more comfortable and started reading the defense better,” Brockbank added. “I’m happy for the boys and happy for the program.”
If Lone Peak hopes to challenge 6A state powers Bingham and East, it will have to cut down on penalties and turnovers. The Knights lost two fumbles and an interception, and were hurt by some penalties at key times.
Such things, however, can be expected on opening night.