Pleasant View • The Lone Peak Knights have played in a lot of big football games in recent years.
So it came as a bit of a surprise when the the Knights found themselves in a 9-0 deficit five minutes into their Class 6A state quarterfinal contest Friday night.
The deficit didn’t last long.
The Knights scored 17 consecutive points and held off Weber’s late charge for a 26-17 win to punch their ticket to the state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“It feels great,” Lone Peak junior running back Masen Wake said. “We worked hard all week.”
Wake played a huge role in the win, carrying the ball 26 times for 186 yards. He was especially productive in the second half, when he gained 162 yards on 19 carries.
Wake got the Knights on the scoreboard late in the opening quarter on a 7-yard run one play after an interception by Weber’s Hudson Schenck in the end zone was wiped off due to a holding call.
“I give everything to those guys,” Wake said about his offensive line “You should be interviewing them.”
The Knights took a 10-9 lead into halftime and expanded that lead to 17-9 when Lone Peak senior quarterback Brock Jones found teammate and classmate Cody Collins in the left corner of the end zone for a 17-9 lead.
Wake carried the bulk of the offensive load on the drive, rushing for 55 yards on five carries, including runs of 16, 18 and 20 yards.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Lone Peak junior running back Masen Wake simply was too much for Weber to handle. Hecarried 26 times for 186 yards, including19 times for 162 yards in the second half. He scored a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter, one play after a Weber interception in the end zone was wiped away due to a holding call.
The Warriors responded with a score early in the fourth when senior quarterback Austin Bartholomew found Brandt Opheikens from 10 yards out to pull Weber to within two. Bartholomew found Schenck to convert the 2-point try to tie the game.
Lone Peak didn’t falter on the road.
The Knights responded with a four-play, 80-yard drive that gave Lone Peak the lead for good. Jones hit Collins from 24 yards out for the go-ahead score. Jones hit Brigham Trowbridge on a 39-yard pass play to set up the score.
“We saw some things on the previous sequence that we knew we could catch them on,” Lone Peak coach Bart Brockbank said. “And it worked out.”
The Warriors had a final chance to tie the game, but consecutive sacks of Bartholomew pushed the Warriors from their own 20 back to the 2. Bartholomew was called for intentional grounding in the end zone on third down, which resulted in a safety.
“We came out a little slow,” Wake said. “But we got it together.”
Jones finished 15 of 28 for 228 yards through the air. He completed 12 of 16 passes in the second half.
“Our guys came in here a little tight,” Brockbank said. “There’s pressure on us to get back to the carpet [Rice-Eccles Stadium].”
Lone Peak will play East, which defeated American Fork in a quarterfinal game.