Coming off a critical win over Maple Mountain last Thursday, the Wasatch football team was feeling good. The Wasps knew they’d have a tall task ahead of them, however, in Springville, whom they faced Wednesday night. Heading into the game 8-1 and ranked third in 5A, Springville was a sharper, larger opponent.
While Wasatch hung on tight for most of Wednesday’s game, Springville’s size and skill wore on them. The Wasps opened up the game’s scoring with a 27-yard field goal from freshman kicker Austin Wilde, which Springville answered with a 25-yard, Lisiate Valeti rushing touchdown. Wasatch senior signal-caller Jay Bradley found the end zone on a 13-yard, second-quarter rush, but Springville’s Tua Naufahu also did earlier in the quarter on a 89-yard run of his own. Springville poured it on the Wasps in the second half with three more touchdowns and a field goal for a final score of 38-10.
Wasatch first year Head Coach Derik Bringhurst was thrilled with the fight his team showed. He’s hopeful that fight and some of the momentum from the Maple Mountain win spills over into the Wasps’ playoff run. The brackets will be revealed Saturday morning, with Wasatch expected to make the playoffs.
“I was really proud of the effort, toughness, execution and everything that the offense and defense were doing,” Bringhurst said. “But, in the third quarter, they started pulling away.”
Bringhurst said he believes his team can clean up some penalties and meet large teams in the run gaps a little better. The Wasps often try to use their speed and athleticism to combat size. It’s often just a handful of items that can turn a 28-point finishing margin into one much closer.
“It wasn’t every series,” Bringhurst said about his team’s struggles. “It was just four or five specific plays where we just did not make a play. … The guys are trying their hardest to play-in and play-out.”
Bringhurst believes improving in some of the minutiae of the game will yield increased wins. He said the team moved the ball incredibly well, halted by a few penalties, rarely going three and out. Wasatch will need to clean up those penalties and play more sound defense in the first round of the playoffs next Friday. Bringhurst expects the team to either face West Jordan or Timpview.
The West Jordan or Timpview game would be on the road, like Wednesday’s game was, at 6 p.m. Wasatch fell to Timpview 33-14 on the road five without Bradley. West Jordan is 6-3, closing out their regular season Friday against Granger — meaning potentially more rest for the Wasps if they were to face off.
“We’ve got to put four quarters together,” Bringhurst said he told his boys after Wednesday’s loss. “We can’t just have two or three quarters of good football. We’ve got to be able to put four quarters together to beat a high-caliber team.”
Bringhurst expects Bradley’s return to make a big difference in a potential rematch with Timpview. The Wasps also know West Jordan relatively well, traveling there and ending their 2024 campaign. Regardless of the opponent next Friday, Wasatch won’t be backing down from the challenge.
The Wasps are going to rest up for a few days this week. They’re going to be prepared to leave it all out on the field in the playoffs. Wasatch wants to win and continue their season for themselves and the Heber City community that has supported them so fervently.
“There’s not a team that we’re afraid of; we don’t back down,” Bringhurst said. “Every guy that’s playing now is buying into our system and playing and competing to the level that we need them to be. … We’ve got tough and respectful kids, and they do their best on the field and in the classroom.”