Wingstop Player of the Week: Sunrise Mountain QB passed for 452 yards, 4 TDs

By Jesse Granger

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Preseason expectations were high for Sunrise Mountain High football because the Miners last season made the playoffs for the first time since the school opened in 2009.

Expectations may have been even higher for junior quarterback Stephen Wright after he threw for 1,104 yards and accounted for 20 touchdowns as a sophomore.

On opening night last week, Wright surpassed those expectations and then some, completing 20-of-24 passes for 452 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Wright’s spectacular performance during Sunrise Mountain’s 39-6 win over Boulder City earned the Wingstop Player of the Week award.

“It’s a great feeling,” Wright said. “It gives me a lot of confidence and the motivation to get better and push further as the season goes on.”

Wright is the second Sunrise Mountain player in as many seasons to win Wingstop Player of the Week. Linebacker Dalwin Spates won the award last season.

“It just shows me that the stuff we are doing is paying off,” Sunrise Mountain coach Chris Sawyers said. “Our boys are believing in the system that we are putting in, and when they implement it, great things can happen.”

Last season the Miners surprised teams, but this year they are in uncharted territory — faced with games they are supposed to win.

“It’s obviously different but this is exactly what we’ve been working so hard for. I came in three years ago and we might have been one of the worst programs in the state,” Sawyers said. “I had a vision, and these kids bought into what I was selling and this is the payoff.”

The opening game against Boulder City was certainly a game that Wright and the Miners were expected to win, and they handled the Eagles with ease.

“The intensity has picked up because we feel we have a target on our back, so we will work harder than we ever did,” Wright said.

The most impressive part of Wright’s performance is how well he distributed the ball, not locking in on one receiver.

Five different receivers caught at least three passes. Wright found Tyree Hayes six times for 91 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Daltyn Pytrysson caught three passes for 129 yards and Te’andre Love caught three for 123 yards and a touchdown.

“He reads the defense really well at this point in his career, and he is just taking what the defense is giving him,” Sawyers said.

The competition will no doubt be steeper as the season goes on. The Miners have a date with Virgin Valley this Friday, and will play Canyon Springs on Sept. 16 and Desert Pines on Oct. 14.

“He doesn’t have to do anything different,” Sawyers said. “I don’t want him to get out of his comfort zone. I just want him to stay within himself and do what we’ve taught him. If he does his talent will shine through. He’s unbelievably talented. He’s got unbelievable arm talent and he’s a dual threat.”

Wingstop awards the player of the week with a $50 gift card and shirt.