Lehi • More than a decade had passed since Lehi won a region football championship.
Drought over.
The Pioneers rode the passing of Cammon Cooper and five timely interceptions by the defense to a 42-14 win over Skyline and their first region title since 2004.
“It was amazing. You can’t really explain it,” Cooper said. “With the community we have here, it was huge.”
Skyline (6-3, 2-2) came into Wednesday’s contest with a chance to force its way into a tie at the top of the Region 6 standings with a victory.
“It wasn’t going to be easy. Skyline gave us a great game,” Lehi coach Ed Larson said. “I don’t think there’s words to describe from where we’ve been to where we are.”
The Pioneers didn’t win a game in 2014. Lehi (8-2, 5-0) now will host a first-round playoff contest in Class 5A.
The Eagles actually drew first-blood when quarterback Tommy McGrath found Taylor Larsen for a 10-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
McGrath finished with 432 yards passing on 26-of-47 passing, with 194 of those yards going to Larsen.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Cammon Cooper completed 30 of his 41 attempts for 423 yards through the air to capture the region title. The Washington State commit’s longest pass was a 74-yard touchdown to Jaxon Moody just before half.
The Lehi offense eventually started clicking against the visiting Eagles, but not initially.
It wasn’t until running back Carsen Manookin weaved his way through the middle for a 7-yard second-quarter touchdown run that the Pioneers began to threaten consistently.
“Everybody on offense knew after we got that first score that we were good to go,” Cooper said. “We started beating them with the quick game, and they backed off a little bit.”
The home team added two more touchdowns before half. Cooper found Kade Moore for an 8-yard TD pass then launched a 74-yard strike to Jaxon Moody for the two-touchdown lead at the intermission.
“It was crazy. The first half, we started kind of slow. We were too tense,” said Cooper, who went 30 of 41 with 423 yards. “Once we got on a roll, that’s when we started having fun.”
A 99-yard third-period touchdown drive following an interception by linebacker Jeremy Hansmann was the hallmark of the Lehi offense. The Pioneers went up 28-7 on an 8-yard run by Jaxson Harward to cap that drive.
The lengthy drive started when the ball was placed inside the 1 after an illegal procedure penalty.
“Every Monday we go over that situation — backed up on our goal line — so we were ready for it,” he said.