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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — To say that Brighton quarterback Drew Jensen and the Bengal offense started off slow is an understatement.
But the Bengals finished well when it mattered in a 23-14 win over Herriman on Friday night.
The 6-foot-2 BYU commit finished with 211 yards on 9-of-20 passing with two interceptions, but no play was more important than a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Simi Fehoko in double coverage with 5:03 left in the third quarter to help the Bengals (1-0) seal the deal in the second half.
"We practice that a lot, me and Drew, every day in practice," Fehoko said. "It's just a pitch-and-catch."
Fehoko, who finished with 190 yards that included big plays of 43, 25 and 65 yards, went up against Herriman cornerback Tanner Rosenham all night, but the Stanford-bound Bengal wideout finally started to get away from him in the second half.
With 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Fehoko ran corner route into the northwest corner of the end zone, reached up his long arms amid a pair of defenders and came down with Jensen's pass while carefully holding a toe in bounds to give Brighton a 16-7 lead to hold on for the win.
"You can throw just about any ball up to Simi, and he'll come down with it. He is one great player," Jensen said of his teammate. "There's a reason he has so many offers and he's going to Stanford. He's smart on the field and off the field. You can trust that kid with whatever you need. He's awesome; a great kid."
Herriman (0-1) dictated the physical play through the first half, dominating in the trenches with a defensive line that averages 300 pounds and holding the Bengals to nine first-half points, all of them on defense and special teams.
Brighton's only first down in the first half came on the Bengals' second drive of the game, when Jensen took a fake punt and ran 20 yards for the marker on a fourth-and-six play. Mustang defensive back Preston Miranda ripped the ball out on a long pass play to force and recover a fumble on the game's opening drive, and Noah Vaea clutched an interception off Jensen to keep the Bengals out of the end zone for the opening 12 minutes of the game.
"My offensive line got manhandled," Brighton coach Ryan Bullet said. "I'm not real happy with their performance. I'm pleasantly surprised my linebackers played as well as they did. We put some new guys in there, and I was happy with the defensive performance."
But it was the Brighton defense that struck first, when Andrew Covey ran an interception back 52 yards for a touchdown with 2:57 left in the half. The Bengals' lead didn't hold for more than a few seconds, though. Brighton missed the point-after attempt, and Jake Jutkins took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards the other direction to give the Mustangs a 7-6 lead on Denver Osborne's PAT.
"I was worried about a special teams moment all week," Bullet said. "You can only do so much live against your own kids. That special teams play ended up stinging us a little bit."
Ezias Bigelow drilled a 37-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to send the Bengals into the locker room with a 9-7 lead.
Scoreboard:
Prep football week 1 scores and highlights
Click here for the latest scores from all the week 1 prep football games across the state."It was really positive," Jensen said of the halftime mood. "If we're up 9-7 playing that bad, we knew we could pick it up and win the game. We really did, especially defensively."
From there, the passing game started to open up. Fehoko's third-quarter score gave the Bengals all the momentum they would need, and junior Kimball Reece iced the game with a 5-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds remaining.
Brig Rush brought the Mustangs within 2 on a 3-yard touchdown scamper with 6:28 remaining, and Jensen's second pick of the game to Vaea nearly set up a comeback. But the Brighton defense held Herriman to a 3-and-out just 39 yards from goal to claim the victory.
"That means so much. I thought I had just lost the game right there," Jensen said. "But our defense really stepped up and picked it up. It was awesome to see."
Rush finished with 97 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries to pace Herriman. Kaden Strasters added 101 yards on 11 rushes for the Mustangs, who play at top-ranked Bingham next Friday. The Bengals host Fremont next week.
"I love a defensive slugout. That's my game," Bullet said with a grin. "But we're just happy to get the win. I'm sure we're going to see that football team again. They are darn good."
