Cafe Rio Player of the Game: Takeshi 'TK' Savery

SALT LAKE CITY — The West Panthers are a school that's filled with over 100 years over tradition that spans multiple generations, and this season they look to add domination in Utah's 5A division to that list.

On Friday night, the Panthers welcomed the Granger Lancers to Gean Plaga Stadium for its final home game of the season.

Coming into this game, West had outscored its opponents 299-32 since the start of September. Even with confidence on West's side, Granger had been riding a four-game winning streak after starting the season 0-4.

Takeshi Savery came into the game defending his turf so his seniors could leave with a win. Savery finished the night with eight total tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Even with West's 52-0 performance over Granger, Savery gave credit to his team and its tough practice schedule.

"Just really physical. ... I feel like we gave each other the best looks," Savery said. "I feel like we have the best offense we're going to see ... iron sharpens iron."

Though surrounded by talented seniors, Savery still has another year of high school and has already caught the attention of many Division I universities, but talented rosters aren't the only factor in Savery's mind.

"The biggest thing for me is culture, emphasis on player culture." he said. "At West High School, we have an amazing player culture because everyone comes from so far and they choose to be here. ... We all share the same mindset and the same ideas

"We're all goal driven to go up to Rice-Eccles (Stadium) to win (the state championship)."

Though the Panthers' dominant win was still fresh in his mind, their 34-7 loss to Orem in last season's state playoffs left a bad taste in Savery's mouth and is something that motivates him to this day.

The Panthers (9-0, 5-0 5A Region 4) look like they'll have a strong resume with state playoffs just two weeks away. Before West can look forward to playing at Rice-Eccles Stadium, they'll need to play one last road game against Cyprus (2-7, 2-4 5A Region 4) on Oct. 14.

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