High school football: Corner Canyon tears down Syracuse in 6A heavyweight match

Since Eric Kjar took over as Corner Canyon’s football coach in 2017, the team has been known for its offensive success.

Led by a series of “gunslingers,” as Kjar described his series of skilled quarterbacks, the Chargers have won three state championships and reached the finals of the last five.

This year, Corner Canyon has another talented squad, and the Chargers cashed in another impressive effort Friday by senior Isaac Wilson, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in a 42-14 victory over previously unbeaten Syracuse on the Titans’ home field.

The Chargers rallied from an early deficit and, after a pair of second-quarter drives gave them a 21-7 halftime lead, took advantage of an interception by linebacker Jackson Beuhler, who simply had to catch the ball in the end zone for another score after his teammates had knocked the ball into the air.

The win ended the Chargers’ nonregion victory tour with a 4-1 record, and they will be heavily favored to roll through the upcoming Region 3 schedule, even though they start next week against another undefeated team – Mountain Ridge.

”It’s a marathon,” Kjar said of the season. “We’ve got to keep hammering the practice and the execution and the effort. We’ll be in a good spot if we can continue to do that.”

The Chargers made a few errors Friday but none that really hurt as they stayed undefeated (9-0) against Region 1 opponents in their 11-year history.

Syracuse, meanwhile, needed to play flawlessly to have a chance and the Titans had to deal with a few dropped passes, a fumble and two interceptions.

Quarterback Jake Hopkins did have a couple of touchdown throws, including a 48-yarder to DJ Mayes that got the capacity crowd excited early in the game. However, Hopkins was pressured a lot more than his counterpart and the momentum clearly changed when he couldn’t convert on a fourth-down play midway through the third quarter, when the Titans had cut the lead to 28-14.

Wilson, who has thrown for 64 touchdowns in his career, including 19 already this year, said that was one of the big differences in this game.

“I don’t think I’ve really been pressured much all year,” he said. “My (offensive) line has been great and gave me a lot of time to throw. I can usually get at least two or three looks (at receivers) before I feel any pressure.”

Perhaps that is why he has averaged more than 18 yards per completion.

And like his brother, Zach Wilson, as well as so many other Charger QBs of the past, he keys the team’s running attack.

So far, Corner Canyon is averaging 46.4 points per game. In fact, in Syracuse’s defense, this 42-point night tied for its season low.

“We’re doing a really good job, but we still have some things to clean up,” said Kjar, who admitted he has never been totally happy about any game since he became a head coach.

“We’re trying to keep Isaac healthy and we don’t want him to run so much. This team has a lot of potential.”

Wilson, meanwhile, was grateful to win the game the way he likes to play it.

“I know what coach has said, but I really like to run,” he said. “If it’s there, I want to take it.”

And, when he is averaging more than seven yards per carry, he has a good argument.