Lehi • Qi’Sean Rust watched the snap sail past the punter and hit the turf. He already was darting straight toward it.
“Coaches set it up great so I can get through untouched every time,” the Lehi senior said.
Rust recovered the bad snap for a touchdown, the Pioneers’ second of the game, en route to a 35-7 win over Woods Cross in their Class 5A state quarterfinal Friday afternoon. Lehi advances to face Springville in Thursday’s state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“It’s a play that I think takes the wind out of the opposing team’s sails a little bit,” Lehi coach Ed Larson said about Rust’s special teams touchdown. “Our sideline lit up, and I felt like that was a big component to why we were able to turn around and then score the next touchdown and put it up 21.”
Rust continued to be that momentum builder on special teams, also blocking a punt two minutes into the second half to give the Pioneers the ball at the Wildcats’ 10-yard line.
Thanks to the great field position, it took just a 24-second drive for Lehi to score on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Cammon Cooper to tight end Kyler Welsh. That touchdown put Lehi up 35-0.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Lehi senior Qi’Sean Rust recovered a botched Woods Cross snap for a special teams touchdown, his first of the season. He also blocked a punt and broke up a would-be touchdown pass to help the Pioneers defense hold the Wildcats to seven points.
When Rust gave his coaches credit for giving him a straight shot to the punter, he wasn’t just being humble — although he certainly could take more responsibility for the athleticism, drive and understanding of the game that both stand-out special teams plays took.
After pouring over film, special teams coach Dan Rice moved Rust from the outside to the inside for plays both this week and last week, Larson said. The adjustment put Rust in position to score his first touchdown of the season and block a punt Friday. It worked just as well last week when Rust blocked a Provo field-goal attempt when the game still was close.
For Lehi, a team usually touted for its potent offense led by Washington State commit Cooper, the quarterfinal bout with Woods Cross heavily featured its special teams and defense.
“I felt our defense gave us a short field all night,” Larson said, “at least in the first half for the most part.”
The Pioneers held the Wildcats scoreless until the final three minutes of the game. Then Woods Cross quarterback Carston Naegle found Tucker Goodfellow in the end zone for the Wildcats’ only score of the game.
Before that fourth-quarter touchdown, Woods Cross’ best chance to score came in the second quarter when Naegle aired out a 36-yard pass, but Rust broke up the play in the end zone. The Wildcats went on to turn it over on downs.