When asked what he enjoyed the most about being around star running Brevin Egbert, former Sky View head football coach Christopher Howell was quick in his initial response, which was, “his goodness.”
You see, Egbert is well liked and well respected by teachers, coaches, administrators and fellow students at Sky View. The Bobcats’ student body president excels in all facets of life, whether it’s in the classroom, on the field, in the community, as a leader, as a friend or as a mentor.
“I think he genuinely is just a really, really good person,” said Howell, who stepped down as SV’s head coach following the 2023 campaign. “When you’re around people like that, I think sometimes it can be a little disingenuous and that’s the last thing I would say about Brevin. Everything he does is genuine and he’s a great human being. He comes from a great family. His parents have done an outstanding job with him. And he’s also really humble. Like I mentioned before, he’s the first to give credit to everybody else and he’s just a really good teammate.”
Make no mistake, though, Egbert was also a fierce competitor for the Bobcats — one who rewrote the program’s single-season rushing records as a senior. The Smithfield native rushed for 191.1 yards an outing this past fall and accounted for a whopping 31 touchdowns in 10 games — 28 of them on the ground and three others via a reception.
Indeed, it was a senior season to remember for Egbert, but those video game-like statistics were a small portion of what he will remember about his time at Sky View moving forward.
“It meant the world to me, seriously, because it taught me so many lessons in life,” Egbert said. “I was lucky enough to have incredible coaches and teammates, and football just really gave me so many relationships that I’ll have for the rest of my life. But as far as being able to contribute to the team, it was just so great to be able to kind of see hard work pay off because you’re obviously not going to have success if you’re not working hard.”
The son of Calvin and Sheri Egbert was a home run threat every time he touched the ball, plus he was an impact performer on defense when called upon. Perhaps more importantly, the Region 11 MVP and first-team all-state honoree was an exceptional leader on and off the field — one who proved you can excel in both aspects of the term student-athlete, as is evidenced by his 4.0 GPA and score of 34 out of a possible 36 on his ACT.
“I was voted in as captain and that means that my teammates trust me, so being able to deliver was truly, truly a blessing,” Egbert said. “But my offensive line, you’re going to hear a lot about them today because they were so amazing and I wouldn’t be able to make any of those plays without them. And they worked so hard, so really all of the big plays was a six-man, seven-man effort because I’m not getting anywhere without them. … It truly was a team effort, so when you’re talking about those big plays we need to be celebrating everybody.”
Egbert was a huge reason why the Bobcats went undefeated during the regular season, captured the Region 11 title outright and averaged 40.27 points an outing, which ranked second in 4A behind eventual champion Crimson Cliffs. For his efforts, Egbert was selected as the 2023 Herald Journal All-Valley Player of the Year.
Egbert and the Bobcats were seemingly on a collision course to face Crimson Cliffs in the 4A championship game, but their stellar senior was injured during the first quarter of a quarterfinal showdown against rival Green Canyon. Egbert “tweaked his knee” in a late regular season game, but was able to recover well enough to not use his knee brace and rush for an eye-popping 272 yards and five TDs in a round of 16 playoff drubbing of Bear River. However, No. 12 went to make a tackle on Sky View’s first defensive series against Green Canyon, “bent my knee weird and tried to play with that knee brace, and I just was not performing to a high standard.”
The Smithfield native only carried the pigskin three times for three yards against the Wolves, who, to their credit, performed very well and earned a 36-32 win. Egbert, who broke the century mark in every other game this past season, sprained his MCL, plus had some meniscus and PCL damage. It took “six, seven weeks to rehab that,” Egbert said.
“Watching that game was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Egbert, who rushed for more than 200 yards against Bear River (twice), Wasatch and Logan as a senior, plus also broke the century mark in receiving yardage against Wasatch. “It was super hard in the trainers room at halftime because they told me I couldn’t play and it was a tight game. … And I had the option to either sulk and pout and just kind of be down about everything, or I could go out and encourage everybody and take what I had learned from football and just lead and encourage guys. And that’s what I decided to do. … But seriously that was so hard to watch that, but I wouldn’t trade that season for the world.”
No. 12 ranked first in the entire state (all classifications) in rushing yards an outing with 174.0, despite essentially missing his entire final game. Egbert also finished second in the entire state in total rushing yards — behind only former Logan and current Desert Hills tailback Tytan Mason — and third with his 28 rushing TDs. He played in essentially two fewer games than the two athletes that exceeded his tally of 28.
What made Egbert such a dynamic running back?
“I think there’s a lot of things,” Howell answered. “But the first thing I think is his intelligence, for sure. He understands our scheme inside and out, he understands where he’s supposed to be, how his job or role works inside of the large scheme. I also think his speed and quickness obviously played a huge role. He’s obviously a very good track athlete. The other thing I think he made huge strides in from his junior to senior year is his ability to get yards after contact. We felt like as a junior that he ran a little bit too high, so he would take some big hits a lot of times as a junior. And I don’t feel he took near those types of hits this year and I think it really helped with his longevity as well. The other thing I think made a big difference was (his junior year) he chose not to play basketball and focused on lifting weights throughout the winter and he got so strong, and it really allowed him to stay more healthy throughout the year, as well.”
As much as football has meant to Egbert, it’s not something he chose to pursue at the next level. Instead, the 18-year-old aspires to be a collegiate track & field athlete and, specifically, a decathlete. The decathlon is a rigorous two-day event that features 10 different track and field disciplines. It is not an official event in high school, although there are periodic competitions and Egbert was recently selected to showcase his talents at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in Southern California this past weekend.
Egbert has been in contact with several Division I track & field coaches and, as of now, plans on competing at one of the in-state programs once he returns from serving a mission to Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, starting in July. Egbert has already eclipsed the 6,000-point barrier in the decathlon a couple of times and is arguably the best high school decathlete in the Beehive State.
“He understands that football takes it’s toll and so he’s going to focus on track and he’ll do a great job,” Howell said. “It doesn’t matter what that kid does, he’ll be successful at it.”
Egbert initially started competing in track & field “mainly” to get faster for football, but ultimately developed a passion for the sport.
“Track is so fun to me because I am a super hard worker and you get out what you put into track, which I think is super cool,” said Egbert, who contributed with 40 tackles — highlighted by a potential game-saving fourth-and-goal stop late in the fourth quarter against Ridgeline — 2.0 sacks, one forced fumble, one blocked field goal and three passes broken up as a senior. “Like football you can work your butt off, but if not everybody else is putting in that same work you’re not going to have as much success. And obviously I love team sports because there’s nothing else quite like that, but track is fun individually because you put in all of that trust in yourself and you can’t let yourself down, otherwise you’re not going to have any success. So, it all comes from putting in that work.”
Egbert made a point to thank his parents and several coaches by name, including Howell, Stu Howell and Jim Walker, for helping him get to where he is today. Egbert also heaped praise on his teammates and the community, just like Christopher Howell said he would.
“I love Sky View so much,” said Egbert, who recently received a scholar-leader award from the National Football Foundation and was the keynote speaker at the NFF’s event at Utah Valley University in late March. “I’m the student body president and I’ve grown up around Sky View my entire life, so I would not want to be anywhere else, and the people there are so great. I just love it so much and so I’m grateful for all the support that I’ve had from the community.”
Parker Moser, Sr., RB, West Side
Moser completed the most successful two-season stint ever for a West Side running back, which is especially noteworthy when you consider how proficient the Pirates have been at that position.
The speedy and diminutive, yet tough-as-nails, senior shattered the single-season program record in rushing yards (1,507) and total touchdowns (25) for the Pirates, who captured their fourth 2A state championship in a five-year span. Moser, a second-team all-district basketball player and reigning district track champion in the 400 meters, was a home run threat every time in touched the ball, including on special teams as he brought back one kickoff and two punts to the house during the first half of the season, “and then everyone quit kicking to him,” WS head coach Tyson Moser asserted.
Idaho’s 2A State Player of the Year and 2A Fifth District MVP racked up 2,017 all-purpose yards as a senior, caught 14 passes for 178 yards and also found powered his way into the end zone for five two-point conversions. Moser was the HJ All-Valley Player of the Year as a junior after accounting for 1,569 yards rushing and receiving, plus a then-single season program record 23 total TDs.
“Parker was a threat every time he touched the ball,” coach Moser said. “His small stature does not show in how he runs the ball. He was a weapon running, catching and returning. Even as teams keyed on him later on in the season, he was still able to consistently have 100-yard (rushing) games.”
Will Wheatley, Sr., LB/DL, Green Canyon
This senior was a big reason why the Wolves experienced such a massive turnaround during the ’23 campaign. Green Canyon went from a one-win team in 2022 to a 10-win squad and participant in the 4A state championship game a year later.
Simply put, Wheatley wreaked havoc wherever he lined up on the defensive side of the ball. The two-time state champion wrestler and starting infielder on Green Canyon’s baseball team paced his team in tackles (116) and sacks (10.0), plus also contributed with three forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions.
Wheatley had some monster performances for the Wolves this past season, highlighted by a 14-tackle, 2.0-sack, one-INT effort in a round of 16 playoff triumph against Salem Hills. The Region 11 Defensive MVP and first-team all-state honoree came through with 16 tackles and 4.0 sacks against Hunter, and eight tackles in six other contests. The Wolves held 10 opponents to 15 or fewer points in ’23, highlighted by shutouts against Park City, Raymond (Canada) and Hunter.
“Will was the heart and soul of our defense,” GC head coach JT Tauiliili said. “Opposing coaches would know of the destruction he caused and the impact player he was on defense. At GC we will miss the person just as much as the player. Will leads by example in the weight room. He was vital to our weights culture. Will plays with a passion and energy that is hard to duplicate. We hope younger players took note of the drive he has on the football field and his unselfishness to do what’s best for the team.”
Dewey Egan, Sr., WR/DB/KR, Green Canyon
Few players in the entire state meant as much or more to their team than Egan, who rarely left the field his final season at the high school level.
It was tough sledding at times for the Wolves offensively, but No. 2 still managed to rack up 786 yards on 51 receptions, highlighted by eight touchdowns of 27 yards or longer — two of those in Green Canyon’s gigantic playoff win over No. 1 Sky View. Egan finished with 11 TD catches on the season.
Egan contributed with 47 tackles and a team-best eight interceptions on defense, plus brought back kickoff returns to the house in three straight games at the end of the season, including twice in the postseason. Both of those kickoff returns in the playoffs took place on the first play of the second half and were flat-out game changers. The first-team all-state pick accounted for both of his team’s TDs against Salem Hills in the round of 16 and found paydirt a trio of times the following week against Sky View — Green Canyon’s first-ever triumph over its rival to the north.
“Dewey was a unique player for us last season,” Tauiliili said. “I don’t know that I have ever coached a player that has had the same impact as him on all three phases of the game. He was a go-to WR on offense, a lockdown corner, and won two playoff games for us with big-time kick returns for touchdowns. That type of player is special. We knew big plays would happen every time he touched the ball, so we emphasized that in the playoffs.”
Krew Jones, Fr., DE/RB/TE, Ridgeline
One of the top pass rushers in the entire state still has three seasons remaining and that’s bad news for future opponents of Ridgeline.
Jones, who already has scholarship offers from several FBS programs, took Region 11 by storm as a freshman as he paced the Riverhawks in sacks with 10.5, ranked team on the team in tackles for loss with 13.5 and also chipped in with 55 total tackles. Additionally, No. 40 was pretty much unstoppable every time his name was called on in the red zone as he rushed for seven touchdowns and also had a trio of scoring catches.
The muscular 6-foot-4, 215-pounder came through with several clutch performances for the Riverhawks, who went 10-3 and gave eventual 4A champion Crimson Cliffs far and away its toughest challenge in the playoffs. Jones finished with 2.5 sacks in that game, a season-high 3.0 sacks against an always physical Bear River team, plus 1.5 sacks against Logan and Green Canyon. The second-team all-state honoree also found paydirt twice in a round of 16 playoff game against Stansbury.
“Krew is an amazing player who works as hard as any player we’ve ever had,” Ridgeline head coach Travis Cox said. “When you pair that with his natural or physical talents, along with his love for the game, you get a generational-type player. The ceiling for Krew is unlimited and I cannot wait to see how far he can go, and I am excited to have a front row seat to watch.”
