Draper • Highland quarterback Cole Peterson had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. It seemed everywhere he turned was a navy blue jersey ready to swallow him up.
Corner Canyon’s defense did just that and more in a thoroughly dominant 37-0 victory Friday in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
The Chargers became the first team in six years to blank the Rams and advanced to Thursday’s semifinal against Skyridge at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“They’ve been carrying us all year,” Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar said about the defense. “They’re definitely the strength of the team. They understand our scheme and execute really well. Like today — a totally different look, new assignments from what we normally run — and they executed the heck out of it.”
Kjar has cultivated a reputation as an offensive coach, but it was the Chargers defense that dominated against the triple-option offense of the Rams. Peterson and Co. managed just 41 yards of offense in the first half and finished with more punts (seven) than completions (four).
CORNER CANYON 37, HIGHLAND 0 <br>• The Chargers limit Highland to 166 yards of total offense and record their second shutout of the season. <br>• Zach Wilson throws for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and Corner Canyon records its largest playoff victory in its five years of existence. <br>• Corner Canyons advances to meet Skyridge in Thursday’s state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Corner Canyon linebacker Caden Johnson had two sacks, and defensive lineman Van Fillinger returned an interception 25 yards for the game’s final points. The Chargers recorded 10 tackles for loss, including three sacks of Peterson.
“I caught it and ran,” said Filllinger, a sophomore. “I’ve never scored before. At the 10-yard line, it felt like a dream.
“Our game plan as D-tackles was to plug up the holes in the triple option. We did our our jobs.”
The offense did its job as well for the Chargers, who will make their second appearance at Rice-Eccles and first since 2014.
Quarterback Zach Wilson threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns — a 50-yarder to John Mitchell on the fifth play of the game and a 24-yarder to Colton Lawson late in the first quarter.
Johnson’s 5-yard run after Highland’s failed fake punt made it 21-0 before halftime. Wilson had 235 yards at the break, then scrambled under pressure for most of the second half.
Conner Ebeling kicked field goals of 40, 47 and 29 yards to push it to 30-0 early in the fourth quarter. The result was a far cry from a week earlier, when the Chargers needed a late Ebeling field goal to edge Bountiful, 24-21.
Peterson finished with 38 yards on 4-of-18 passing and had 54 of the Rams’ 128 yards rushing.