Playoff heartbreak for Wasatch Wasps football
HEBER CITY, Utah — The Wasatch Wasps varsity football team had a great season unfortunately end in heartbreak. A strong regular season led them into the playoffs, where they would ultimately come to a crushing end. The season had its highs and its lows, but the lessons they learned will surely benefit them as they go forward into next season with a strong program.
The non-region section of the Wasps season started off quite strong. An opening day win on the road at Park City High School by a score of 21-15 highlighted the strong Wasp defense. That same defense would rise to the occasion again in their second game of the season, as Wasatch defeated Mountain Crest High School 51-3. It was in the third game of the season that Wasatch finally hit their first roadblock, losing at home to Mountain Ridge High School 40-30. The Wasps would close out their non-region section of their schedule with a win over Pleasant Grove High School, leaving them 3-1 on the season.
Into region play the Wasps went, where they would start with back-to-back wins over Salem Hills High School and Maple Mountain High School. Now with a record of 5-1, things started to go south for the Wasps. The win over Maple Mountain would be followed by back-to-back losses to Springville High School and Spanish Fork High School. What once was a stellar 5-1 record has now fallen to a middling 5-3 record that desperately needed to get back on track.
The following week, the Wasps would do just that as they won a shootout over Provo High School, 49-41. With a regular season record of 6-3, the Wasps would qualify for the state playoffs, and would take on Maple Mountain for the second time this season in the first round. Much like the first game of the season, Wasatch dominated Maple Mountain, this time by a score of 55-20. The win would advance them to the second round of the playoffs, where they would go on the road to Lehi High School.
The game at Lehi would prove to be the Wasps most entertaining game of the season as both sides fought hard but neither could gain a significant edge. The game would go into overtime where Lehi would emerge victorious, 35-34, thus ending Wasatch’s season.
What was a great season will still give Wasp fans hope for the future. A second-round playoff loss by one point in overtime is not something to hang one’s head over. With a fair portion of the roster returning again next season, the experience this season could easily help push them over the edge to become one of the elite programs in Utah come next year. For now, it is back to the drawing board with revenge on the minds of the players as they look forward to next fall.
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