First-year school Corner Canyon finds success in Utah high school football playoffs

DRAPER, Utah – First-year schools aren't supposed to do the things Corner Canyon (Draper) has done this season.

Winning region titles and playoff games goes against the grain. Finishing below .500 and struggling to put a competitive product on the field is the usual rite of passage for a school making its football debut.

The Chargers have rewritten that script in exciting ways. Corner Canyon finished in a three way tie for the Region 7 championship with Orem and Olympus. The Chargers then took that success a step farther by winning the school's first playoff game last weekend.

Corner Canyon amassed 505 yards of total offense to rout Spanish Fork 42-21 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Only one other Utah high school, Mountain View, has won a playoff game in its first season of football.

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"It's really incredible for our first year," junior linebacker Gaige Kartchner said. "We had such a slow start and everybody was doubting us in the beginning. Now we're one of the eight teams left in the playoffs. That was really awesome to win our first playoff game and now be in the position we are in."

The Chargers dominated on both sides of the ball. They held the Dons to just 135 yards on offense. They sacked Spanish Fork quarterback Jason Money six times and intercepted him twice – with Tanner Putnam returning one pick for a 30-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

The opportunity to keep surprising people continues this Friday with a clash against Class 4A power East in the quarterfinal round.

"No one really knew who we were at first," junior quarterback Michael Ebeling said. "By going down 0-3, they thought we were a nobody. That's what everyone expected. But we've shocked a lot of people and we're still going to keep shocking them."

Like a bulk of first-year schools, Corner Canyon struggled to win games early in the season. The Chargers suffered losses to Juan Diego, Springville and Westlake in their first three games. While they were losing, it was how they lost that offered evidence a dramatic turnaround was in the works.

Corner Canyon lost all three games by a combined total of 12 points. The defense had allowed just 21 points per game in those losses.

"They knew how close they were," said Chargers coach Don Eck, a former University of Utah assistant coach. "We did a good job as a coaching staff pointing out what needed to improve and what mistakes needed to be eliminated to win games. And we started doing that and we started winning."

Corner Canyon caught everyone's attention when it upset Olympus 17-16 in the fifth game. The team clinched a tie for the region title with a 48-14 victory over Murray in the regular season finale.

Improvement on the offensive side of the ball made a huge difference. The Chargers held region opponents to 17 points per game, while boosting their scoring output to 30.2 points per game in region contests.

Ebeling made steady progress throughout the season in running the offense and put in one of his best performances to date against Spanish Fork. He threw for 286 yards and four touchdowns on 13-for-19 passing. Ebeling also rushed for 50 yards and a score on 10 carries.

"We've improved immensely in the offensive line as far as pass protection and run blocking," Eck said. "But the biggest thing is our passing game. Mike is seeing the field better and getting the ball downfield better."

Corner Canyon's success seems even more amazing considering the team was a bit of a nomad during the offseason before the school officially opened. The Chargers borrowed weight rooms at Jordan and Hillcrest to do lifting and conditioning through the winter and spring. When they could no longer work out and practice at Hillcrest at the end of June, Corner Canyon coaches signed their players up to work out at local gyms and found empty fields at local parks where they could practice.

Eck had 70 players turn out consistently through all of it. Right then and there, he knew this team had a chance to be good immediately.

"They all showed up," Eck said. "They were all there and that was a great sign."

With 19 returning starters in 2014, signs are also great that Corner Canyon can build on success it has already enjoyed in 2013.

John Coon covers Utah high school sports for MaxPreps.com. He is a former prep sports reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News. You can contact him at john_coon@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @johncoonsports.