Orem’s Puka Nacua ties state record in Tigers' state championship win

Call it the curse of mom.

Orem standout Puka Nacua laughed that it was his mother’s fault that he didn’t set a record for touchdown receptions in a season.

“Curse my mom,” he said. “No, I love my mom. But she cursed me with big feet — size 15. The back of that heel, he caught me with that one.”

Nacua was pulled down from behind, just 2 yards short of owning the state record on his own. Winning the state title was plenty of consolation for the Orem junior receiver.

“Winning this state championship was the most important thing to me,” he said.

Nacua, the younger brother of Utes receiver Samson Nacua, finished with four catches for 75 yards and a score in Orem’s 26-0 win over Mountain Crest in Friday’s Class 4A state title game. That touchdown tied Nacua with Brighton’s Simi Fehoko (2014) with 24 receiving touchdowns in a season. And Nacua’s 1,691 yards receiving this season rank third all-time behind Logan’s Richie Geertsen in 1989 and Lehi’s Dallin Holker this season.

“I think he’s the best receiver in the state, for sure one of the best in the country,” Orem quarterback Cooper Legas said.

The record-tying score came in the fourth quarter when Legas fired to his right. Nacua’s little stutter step made Mountain Crest defender Joshua Powell miss, and Nacua raced into the end zone.

Orem again closed in on the goal line later in the fourth quarter, and Tigers coach Jeremy Hill knew where he wanted the ball to go. That’s when Nacua said his big feet got in the way.

“I told Lance [Reynolds], who is my OC, if this doesn’t work, it’s on me, but let’s really try to get him a record right here,” Hill said. “We had it down there the next time and probably could have got him, but he goes, ‘Coach, I’m good. It’s about the team, it’s not about me,’ which says a lot about him.”

Nacua was more than happy to spend the final minutes on the sideline as the Tigers ran out the clock. He hugged teammates while watching the action on the big screen in Rice-Eccles’ south end zone. Then as the final seconds ticked off, he gave a huge bear hug to Hill and screamed, “Yes. We did it, coach.”

When the Tigers players shook hands with Mountain Crest players, it was Nacua at the front of the line.

Nacua talked after the state quarterfinal win over Desert Hills about how his brother Samson was giving him a hard time about not playing at Rice-Eccles yet. Samson won a pair of state titles at Timpview, and Puka planned to call his older brother as soon as possible.

“I’m gonna get him next year,” Puka said. “I’m gonna tie him up next year. We’re coming for another one. I’ve got another year. But at least I got one now, so the argument’s not as big as it used to be.”