It was a resurgent season for the Wasatch football team. The Wasps earned one more win than their 2024 campaign and built a new and improved team culture under first year head coach Derik Bringhurst.
The Wasatch season came to a close Friday night however. The Wasps fell 40-15 to Timpview on the road. It was Wasatch’s second loss to Timpview this season, also losing Sept. 12 on the road.
The Wasps hung tough with Timpview until the game’s second quarter Friday, only conceding one late-first quarter touchdown. Senior star running back Ben Brand answered with a 44 yard touchdown rush. Timpview answered Brand and Wasatch with three more touchdowns, one a pick six, before the half.
Wasatch opened up the second half scoring with a 31 yard field goal by Teague Fritzsche. Timpview again responded with their quarterback Cole Engemann’s third touchdown pass of the game. Late in the fourth quarter, senior star receiver Cache Coombs scored on a touchdown grab. Timpview found the endzone for the final time in the game’s final minutes.
“Our offense was doing a great job sustaining drives,” Bringhurst said. “It’s almost as if when we would get to the 30 yard line, we just couldn’t punch it in. … Our defense really could not stop what Timpview was putting together.”
Red zone efficiency was something that the Wasps struggled with at various points this season. Bringhurst said he believes the game might’ve moved too fast for his players in the red zone and that other teams likely locked in.
“They knew they couldn’t get much on us with their run game,” Bringhurst added about Friday’s game. “They moved the ball well with their passing game. … They definitely exposed the zones.”
Wasatch played a lot of zone defense this season with some underclassmen defensive backs. They tried out a bit of man defense Friday as things started to get away from them, something they’ll likely lean into more next season.
Bringhurst said the team will lose around 20 players to graduation and the 2026 opening of the new Deer Creek High School in Wasatch County. He expects many experienced returners however. Most important to the Wasps’ success will be shifting into 4A, a smaller classification with schools like Park City.
“We’re graduating a lot,” Bringhurst said. “Most of them are on defense. … Almost every one of them were starters, and so there’s going to be a big hole there.”
Bringhurst said the senior group showed the underclassmen the ropes through their work ethic. He said in past years some seniors have mentally checked out once the season started going south. Bringhurst was also able to get several underclassmen like sophomore running back Logan Duncan and sophomore quarterback Bryce Harr valuable minutes this season.
“The attitude of these seniors was never quit or back down,” Bringhurst said. “They’ve (underclassmen) seen it and experienced it. … They’re more focused now than I’ve experienced in the 14 years that I’ve been here, and that excites me.”
Wasatch will keep their schematics the same heading into 2026. Bringhurst said keys to success will be mastering what the Wasps do and hard work this offseason. Being the third coach in three seasons, 2026 will be the first year in four with players returning to the same offense.
“There are guys returning that have been starting or have gotten a lot of varsity time this this year,” Bringhurst said. “That’s going to be impactful this next year. … Stuff like that excites me for the future.”
Bringhurst said the community support for the team this season was phenomenal. He hopes to provide them with a perennial contender in 4A moving forward.
“We’ve been in 5A for 11 years,” Bringhurst said. “I’ve said for years that we have 4A-sized kids playing 5A football. … Now we’re going to have 4A-sized kids playing 5A football so my expectations are really high coming into the 4A classification.”