No. 2 Skyridge Looking To Stay Perfect When They Face No. 5 Pleasant Grove

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – The No. 2 Skyridge Falcons will look to stay perfect in 2020 as they travel to No. 5 Pleasant Grove in the Game Night Live Game of the Week.

Skyridge is 6-0 on the season after a dominating 41-9 win over then-No. 2 American Fork last week in the Game Night Live Game of the Week. With the win, the Falcons moved up to No. 2 in the Game Night Live Power Rankings. With wins over Alta, Bingham, Orem, Copper Hills, Jordan and American Fork, Skyridge is looking to improve their record to 7-0 and 2-0 in a very tough Region 4.

After a 5-0 start to the season, Pleasant Grove ran into the hottest team in the state last week and fell to No. 1 Corner Canyon on the road, 38-7. The Vikings have wins over Riverton, Maple Mountain, Jordan, Wasatch and Lehi.

Friday will mark just the second meeting all-time between these two schools. The first meeting was in 2019 when the Vikings knocked off the Falcons, 28-27 at home on Friday, September 27, 2019.

No. 2 @skyridgefb vs. No. 5 @pleasantgrovev1 this week on #GameNightLive.

Join @JJSportsBeat, @TomCantHackett and @SSylvester55 Friday at 7 for some Friday night football. #KSLGameNight @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/7vyNmz7NbS

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 22, 2020

Skyridge Falcons

The 6-0 start for Skyridge is the second best start to the season in school history. They started the 2017 season 7-0 before losing their first game. After that loss, they won their next five games, reaching the 5A State Championship game where they fell to Lehi, 55-17. It was only their second season.

In 2018, Skyridge lost their first game before winning their next 11 games to reach their second straight state title game but lost to Corner Canyon. Last season, the Falcons started 5-0 and then lost to Pleasant Grove. They won the following game before losing to Corner Canyon. Skyridge knocked off Westlake in the regular season finale, picked up a first round bye in the state tournament before losing to Lone Peak in the second round.

Offensively, Skyridge is averaging 42.3 points per game, scoring 254 points through six games. They have scored over 33 points in every game in 2020.

Sophomore quarterback McCae Hillstead has thrown for 1,451 yards, 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, while rushing for 340 yards and 7 more TD’s. Jeter Fenton is the leading rusher with 512 yards and 6 touchdowns. The receiver group is led by James Palmer with 36 receptions for 575 yards and 6 touchdowns. Mitch Adamson has 22 catches for 390 yards and 6 TD’s. Hillstead has thrown touchdowns to 9 different targets.

Their defense is very talented, allowing their opponents to score an average of 8.3 points per game. They have allowed just 50 points in six games this season. The most was 14 points by Orem on August 28. Peli Launoa has 3.5 sacks. 10 different defenders have at least a half of a sack this season. The Falcons recorded 8 interceptions this season. T.J. Ragiga and Smith Snowden each have two to lead the team.

Pleasant Grove Vikings

The 5-0 start before the loss to Corner Canyon last week was the best start for the Vikings since 2019 when they started 5-0.

The current coaching staff at Pleasant Grove is building something special. In 2018, the Vikings went 8-5 with a loss to Lone Peak in the 6A Semifinals. Last season, they held an 8-4 record and reached the 6A second round where they lost to Syracuse.

The Pleasant Grove offense is led by former BYU quarterback and offensive coordinator Brandon Doman. They are averaging 29 points per game and have scored 174 points this season.

Sam Leavitt is their starting quarterback. He has thrown for 1,358 yards, 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Rex Connors has rushed for 298 yards and 4 scores. Spencer Tauteoli and Porter Connors each have three rushing TD’s.

Darrius Clemons is the leading receiver with 26 catches for 512 yards and 7 touchdowns. Isaac Vaha has 11 receptions for 197 yards and one TD.

Defensively, the Vikings are holding their opponents to 16.3 points per game, allowing 98 total points this season. Tauteoli and Porter Connors each have 3 sacks this year. Their secondary has been busy, hauling in 10 interceptions this season. Rex Connors has two interceptions while 8 others have one pick.

Pleasant Grove has two players that are currently targets for the University of Utah and BYU. Darrius Clemons is a four-star wide receiver and Isaac Vaha is a three-star tight end.

The Vikings and Falcons will clash on Friday at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on sports.ksl.com and the KSL TV app.