All in all, it was a pretty good year for the Granger High Lancer football team. It ended the regular season with a victory over crosstown rival Hunter 47-6, upset Box Elder on the road 26-23 on Oct. 25 to open the state 5A playoffs, then stayed steady even in a season-ending 45-28 loss at Roy on Nov. 1. The Lancers finished 6-6 on the year, but had a five-game winning streak before the loss to the Royals.

In Brigham City, Granger won its first playoff game since 1997 against the Bees thanks to a fourth quarter 6-yard run from superback Sunia Fifita. The host Bees led early, but a fumble recovery by Ezekiel Kasitaki in the third quarter began a Lancer comeback.

Junior quarterback Aidan Welchman threw for 80 yards, including three completions to senior Brighton Webb. Fifita rushed 32 times for 180 yards and a touchdown.

That set up the game with Roy, a team ranked 10th in the state by MaxPreps. The Royals scored early and often, building a 31-7 halftime lead. But there was no quit in the Lancers. Welchman threw for 197 yards, including a 74-yard TD to junior Juni Tauataina. Fifita rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns to make the final score respectable. Webb caught three passes for 113 yards. It was the ninth straight game for the Lancers rushing for over 190 yards.

On defense, senior Mason Kasitati finished with 29 sacks on the season, ranking him second in the nation in that statistic. In all, he had 57 solo tackles, 50 assists and 48 tackles for loss on the year. That included a six-sack performance against Cyprus on Oct. 9.

A large number of players will return next year for Granger as it tries to build on the momentum from the final two months of this season.