High school football: Bountiful starts slow, uses strong 2nd half to pull away from Herriman in new stadium

As Bountiful High School’s new football stadium filled to capacity on its west (student) side, the Redhawks figured it wouldn’t be hard to become inspired to play their season opener against a bigger school like 6A’s Herriman.

But what coach Jason Freckleton admired most about his team Friday night was how it stayed unruffled en route to a 27-9 victory at Larry Wall Stadium.

Senior quarterback Emerson Geilman threw two touchdown passes, Siaki Fekitoa scored twice and Landon Zayas kicked a pair of field goals as Bountiful rallied from an early deficit and looked like the team it was last year, when the Redhawks finished 10-5 and reached the 5A state championship game.

Freckleton said he created a difficult schedule for 2024 because he wanted to challenge his team every game. That proved prescient almost immediately.

After Zayas booted the opening kickoff into end zone, Herriman quarterback Bryce Benson connected with Taylor Hatch down 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 the kids stayed calm. Herriman is big and physical and we played right with them.”

The Mustangs showed some promise, like Hatch, of course, as well as defensive lineman Bo Traver and kicker/punter Ryker Syddall, who had two punts of about 65 yards.

The Redhawks, however, were enthused about their stadium and were actually the more physical squad.

The facility, located in nearly the same spot as before on the east side of campus, became one of the last along the Wasatch Front to get artificial turf in 2023, but in the last nine months also added new bleachers, an eight-lane track, a small storage unit that doubles as the visitor’s locker room and a revolutionary scoreboard by Utah high school standards.

Freckleton, himself a Bountiful grad, said he was proud to be on the field for its unveiling.

“This is a great community and it supports its schools,” he said. “It means a lot to the kids to be on the team to play here on this night. It’s something they’ll always remember and you can’t beat this atmosphere.”

Geilman heartily agreed. He said the experience he gained last season, when he started all 15 games, helped him stay in control as he drove the Redhawks downfield for two consecutive field goals.

On the next drive, he found Fekitoa on a 39-yard touchdown throw midway through the second quarter to give a Bountiful a lead it never relinquished.

“It’s the first game and we had some butterflies,” said Geilman, who didn’t break any statistical records but was mostly mistake-free. “The coaches just told us to gather ourselves and play like we know we can.”

Bountiful led 13-9 at half but busted the game with a pair of touchdown drives going with a slight breeze in the third quarter. The highlight was a 74-yard touchdown pass from Geilman to Britton Tidwell.

Geilman also felt secure as the defense never let Herriman find any rhythm. New Mustangs coach Matt Rickards, who moved over after a successful tenure at Kearns, is installing a whole new system, and Herriman showed it is still acclimating to things.

After that first pass, Herriman had trouble finding any consistency. The Mustangs’ only other score came on a second-quarter safety after a muffed Bountiful punt.

Benson completed 11 of 25 passes for 154 yards but half of them came on that first play. Herriman, in fact, never had an offensive play inside Bountiful’s red zone.