6A final: Resilient Chargers rally by Lone Peak for back-to-back titles

SALT LAKE CITY — Bronson Evans has dreamed of being a Charger and leading 6A power Corner Canyon to a state title since he was 8 years old.

But when the junior quarterback saw Timpview transfer and four-star Texas A&M commit Helaman Casuga move to Draper for his junior season, Evans had plenty of opportunity to transfer or move on himself.

Instead, he stuck with the program — and led the Chargers to one of the more improbably championships in the storied program's history.

Evans threw for 93 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 27 yards as top-seeded Corner Canyon overcame a 21-7 first-half deficit en route to the Chargers' 11th-straight victory, a 30-27 win over Lone Peak in Thursday's 6A state championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"It's a surreal experience," Evans said. "I love to do it with my boys.

"Coach (Eric) Kjar said it: We're going to win this game. And we all had so much faith and trust in him that we knew that we had a chance to win it."

Cooper Kingston ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, and Weston Briggs added 140 yards and two scores on the ground for Corner Canyon, which piled up 306 rushing yards, the most of head coach Kjar's six state championships.

It's just the sixth time in state history — across all classifications — that a team has overcome a two-touchdown deficit to win a title, and the first since 2008.

"He stuck it out. We had a kid come in, a big-time player," said Kjar, who embraced Evans for several moments while celebrations rained down around the coach-quarterback pair at midfield following his 100th career win. "But I've known Bronson since he was little; he's always wanted to be a Charger. To see him be able to do what he did, to come in and make plays was emotional for me. The kids are why you do it, and to see a kid do that, to stick it out ... this is what you get. It's awesome."

Resiliency, thy name is Bronson Evans. Or maybe, more aptly, thy name is Corner Canyon.

The Chargers finished the season with a 13-1 record, but overcame a number of hardships en route to the program's fifth state title. But after a stunning 35-34 win over national power IMG Academy back in August, the resulting final was anything but assured.

Corner Canyon took its first — and ultimately, only — loss of the year a week later before watching its roster hit by a series of gut-punching injuries. There was five-star receiver Jerome Myles, who tore his ACL before committing to USC, and Casuga a month later. Starting running back Bryton Brady went down in the first meeting against the Knights, as well.

But the Chargers kept battling, right up until Thursday night when they trailed Lone Peak (11-3) by as much as 14 en route to a 21-14 halftime deficit.

"Our group of seniors, we challenged them to keep grinding, keep working, stay the process and stuff will work out," Kjar said. "They believed, and we owe a lot of it to them."

Corner Canyon couldn't have started any faster after Kingston sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown on the Chargers' first play from scrimmage to give the No. 1 overall seed a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game.

But Lone Peak responded with 21-unanswered points, capped by Kepa Niumeitolu 1-yard TD plunge with 4:20 left in the half as part of a three-play, 10-yard drive that Bott Mulitalo set up with an interception just over a minute prior.

It was the second rushing touchdown of the first half for the lightly recruited 6-foot-1 junior quarterback, who also threw an 11-yard touchdown to Isaac Staley in the second quarter as part of 86 passing yards to go along with 66 rushing.

Briggs pulled one back for Corner Canyon with a 4-yard TD with 48 seconds left in the half for the Chargers, who out-gained the Knights 209 yards to 111 before the break but converted just 2-of-4 third downs to 6-of-8 for Lone Peak.

But about that resiliency, right?

Briggs capped a nine-play, 39-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown dive to tie the game at 21-21 with 3:48 left in the third before the Chargers made the play of the game on defense.

That's when Jayden Talauega sacked Niumeitolu in the end zone with 2:42 left in the third, securing a safety with one of his six tackles to give Corner Canyon a 23-21 lead.

"Watching them do that, I always had faith in them, especially with Cody Gardner leading them," Evans said of his defensive coordinator. "They knew what's up."

Evans took the ensuing kickoff, and directed a seven-play, 67-yard drive with confidence before giving the Chargers a 30-21 advantage with a 34-yard TD strike to Kai Meza.

Niumetolu pulled one back with a 1-yard touchdown with 7:45 remaining. But the junior quarterback was ejected following the play with a personal foul (language), and Corner Canyon held on from there.

Brock White had eight tackles to lead the Chargers' defense, which also got a tackle for loss from Blake Ames in holding Lone Peak to 105 yards in the second half and just 71 on the ground.

Sam Wright ran for 108 yards for Lone Peak.

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