With Bountiful High School’s new west-side football stadium (for juniors) filled to capacity, the Redhawks figured it wouldn’t be hard to find inspiration to play their season opener against a larger school like Herriman (#6A).
But what coach Jason Freckleton admired most about his team on Friday night was the composure with which they achieved a 27-9 victory at Larry Wall Stadium.
Veteran quarterback Emerson Geilman threw two touchdown passes, Siaki Fekitoa scored twice and Landon Zayas kicked two field goals as Bountiful overcame an early deficit and looked like last year’s team again, when the Redhawks finished 10-5 and reached the 5A state championship game.
Freckleton said he had drawn up a demanding schedule for 2024 because he wanted to challenge his team in every game, and that proved prescient almost immediately.
After Zayas fired the opening kickoff into the end zone, Herriman quarterback Bryce Benson passed to Taylor Hatch in the middle of the field, and Hatch broke free to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.
“We know we’re a good team and we’re going to have to fight through some adversity,” Freckleton said. “I’m really proud of how calm the guys stayed. Herriman is big and physical and we played well with them.”
The Mustangs showed promising talent, including Hatch, of course, but also defensive lineman Bo Traver and kicker/punter Ryker Syddall, who made two punts of about 65 yards.
The Redhawks, on the other hand, were thrilled with their stadium and were actually the physically stronger team.
The facility, located in nearly the same spot as before on the east side of campus, was one of the last along the Wasatch Front to receive artificial turf in 2023. But the past nine months have also seen the addition of new bleachers, an eight-lane running track, a small storage unit that also serves as a locker room for visitors, and a scoreboard that is revolutionary by Utah high school standards.
Freckleton, himself a graduate of Bountiful University, said he was proud to be on the field for the unveiling.
“This is a great community and they support their schools,” he said. “It means a lot to the kids to be on the team that plays here that night. It’s something they’ll always remember and you can’t beat that atmosphere.”
Geilman agreed wholeheartedly, saying the experience he gained last season when he started all 15 games helped him stay in control as he pushed the Redhawks to two consecutive field goals.
On the next drive, he found Fekitoa with a 39-yard touchdown throw midway through the second quarter, giving Bountiful a lead that the team never relinquished.
“It’s the first game and we were pretty nervous,” said Geilman, who didn’t break any statistical records but was mostly error-free. “The coaches just told us to pull ourselves together and play the way we can.”
Bountiful led 13-9 at halftime, but ripped the game apart with two touchdown drives in a light wind in the third quarter, the highlight being a 74-yard touchdown pass from Geilman to Britton Tidwell.
Geilman also felt confident because the defense never let Herriman get into a rhythm. New Mustangs coach Matt Rickards, who moved in after a successful tenure at Kearns, is implementing a completely new system, and Herriman showed he’s still getting used to things.
After that first pass, Herriman struggled to find consistency. The Mustangs’ only other point came on a safety in the second quarter after a botched punt by Bountiful.
Benson completed 11 of 25 passes for 154 yards, but half of those came on that first play. Herriman never actually had an offensive play in Bountiful’s red zone.
