When it comes to high school football, many states make regular headlines: Texas, California, Florida. These days, Utah is starting to show up as well.
Wasatch High School, for example, has two players ranked nationally in their respective roles.
According to high school sports scores and stats aggregator MaxPreps, Wasatch’s senior wide receiver Crew Erickson is ranked 2nd in the nation in receiving yards with 1,248.
Wasatch Football Head Coach Steve Coburn explained that part of the magic is how Erickson works with his teammates.
“You know, he's got some of his some of his big plays have been down to field plays where he's you know, ran a post route or a fade route and Mack is throwing the ball in there to him," Coburn said. "Because he's, he's got good speed. He's really strong. And but the other plays are, we run a lot of outside receiver screens. And so he has a lot of guys out in front of him blocking for him to get him open, and down the field, too. So it's kind of a combination of those two things.”
Erickson said the ranking surprised him.
“It was never even like, really on my radar. And it just kind of just kind of happened. That's really cool to see.”
Erickson has always dreamed of playing college baseball, but since this season he has started to become open to all options.
“So my dream is always to play college baseball," he said. "And then this year, or this football season, kind of change it a little bit. So if I get some football offers, I'd love to play football, or I can keep pursuing that baseball career as well.
Erickson is also up for the Midseason Player of the Year award. He is one of two Utahans nominated. This is an award conducted by scorebooklive.com. Voting closes on Saturday October 8th. Find the survey here.
He’s not the only star on the team. Sophomore quarterback Mack Kelson is 10th in the nation in passing with 2,255 yards.
Coburn said that also playing baseball has helped Kelson’s throwing ability.
“Really he's only a sophomore. So he's developed real fast. And, you know, he's got a good arm. He's a, formerly a baseball player. So that obviously helps you having a good strong arm, but he's able to see the field real well, reading his keys and getting the ball out to his playmakers.”
Kelson said he is really happy about the recognition he is getting, but winning is what’s at the forefront for him.
“Yeah, it feels awesome. It's great. Honestly, I love it. I love it competition I want to be on be number one. That's my goal. And I still have two years, two years left of high school, but right now it's going good. Honestly, the yards and all that doesn't really matter. To me. It's all about winning and losing, like winning, winning the game.”
Coburn went on to say that having many players with baseball experience translates well to the football field.
“It's an advantage for us. You know, we have basketball players on our team, we really have a good crossover with, with a lot of the other sports with wrestling, our track team, you know, we encourage our kids to be multi-sport guys that they are cross training with their other sports. And so it's been a real advantage for us over the years. There was one year when we had on the baseball team, eight of the nine starters were football players. We complement each other very well.”
Since the players' recognition, the school has been getting more attention. Coburn said his phone has been ringing frequently with people asking if the Wasatch High School in Utah was the real Wasatch. College recruiters have also started to show up to watch Erickson.
Wasatch will be closing out its regular season Friday at 7:00 p.m. as it plays the Provo Bulldogs on the road.