Mountain West High School Football: Who’s Up, Who’s Down Across the Region

All across the Mountain West region, there were some impressive performances that took place on high school football fields in six states from Idaho to the Dakotas.

High School On SI wanted to look at some of the highs and lows from the region that took place this weekend. Here are some of the highlights we found.

Three Up

Jefferson (SD)

There is only one unbeaten team left in South Dakota’s Class 11AAA ranks, and that’s the Cavaliers after they upended the defending state champion Lynx 20-14. Senior QB Cason Mediger threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and junior LB Dax Wachel’s fourth-down sack in the final minute on Brandon Valley’s final drive sealed the win — Jefferson’s second in a row over the Lynx.

Tristan Miller

The Big Sky (MT) senior played through a broken wrist to deliver the biggest moment of the night for the unbeaten Eagles, catching a 27-yard touchdown pass from Eli Kasberg with 1:38 remaining to lift Big Sky to a 22-21 victory over Butte.

Uintah (UT)

Through good times and bad, one constant over the past quarter century for the Utes had been heartburn every time they faced Wasatch. They had dropped their last 11 meetings against the Wasps until Friday, when Colton Van Wagoner’s 18-yard field goal with 2:15 left lifted Uintah to a 17-16 victory, evening its record at 3-3 and ending an 11-game losing streak in the series. The win wasn’t secured until Wasatch missed a potential game-winning field goal on the final play.

Three Down

Lone Peak (UT)

The past two seasons, the Knights had sprung upsets of Corner Canyon in 6A Region 2 play, but this year, they could not keep up with the No. 1 team in the High School On SI Mountain West Top 25 rankings, as the three-time defending state champion Chargers scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for a 37-14 victory.

Jaxon Pehrson’s third touchdown run in the third quarter broke a 14-14 tie, and pick-sixes by Diesel Dart and Will Tenney sealed Lone Peak’s fate.

Kimberly (ID)

The Bulldogs reached the 4A state championship game last year — the program’s first appearance in the finals since 1981 — but they’ve suffered a bit of a hangover this season, falling to 1-4 after a 14-7 loss to Sugar-Salem.

One difference is they’ve been unable to unleash 3-star Air Force commit WR Joe Barrett so far. Barrett caught 66 passes for 1,127 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior, but through five games this fall, he has 22 receptions for 301 yards and three scores.

Lander Valley (WY)

You knew someone was going to bear the brunt of Star Valley’s ire after the Braves’ school-record 35-game win streak was snapped a week ago. It was the Tigers who had that unfortunate task, losing 56-0 to drop to 0-3 after finishing last year 8-2 — their best record since 2019.

Who rises and falls next? High School On SI will return each week with Three Up, Three Down from around the Mountain West high school football scene.

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