Matt Rickards helps to lead his team to victory this 2025-2026 football season. With a 3-8 record last year, Herriman High Mustangs have a 10-1 record as of now and are looking for some more challenges.
When asked, ‘what did you guys change from last year?’ the head football coach, Matt Rickards responded with, “There’s never just one thing, there are multiple things. If you can get one percent better in everything […] That’s gonna compound all together.” He also mentioned the way the kids worked during the off season has helped improve to where they are now. The team was consistent, disciplined, and worked well with each other even through the little bumps they had.
The difference from the last couple of years and this year is Tyler Messer, Herriman Highs’ Quarterback, having a 0.617 completion percentage. Completion percentage is just how many accurate passes that are completed. Messer has the second highest completion rate in the last five years, following closely behind Fredrick Ta’ai with a 0.655 from the 2023-2024 season.
In the 2024-2025 season they scored a total of 152 points, which is an average of 13.81 points a game. Leading into the new season, the team has scored a total of 406 points in 11 games this season, averaging 36.9 points a game. That puts the Mustangs at 2nd in our school region, but overall for football, the Mustangs are ranked number seven in the state of Utah.
Rickards doesn’t care if they win or lose, he just wants to compete. He says you can’t be afraid to lose or to win. Because if you are, you are not going to focus on the game. The coaches just want the boys to put in their best effort. Coach Rickards comments about how the “Challenge makes them better.” The team has seen many challenges this season, especially while facing Lehi. Starting off strong with 13-0 first half then ending 22-21 at the end of the game. They also had another challenging game against Mountain Ridge, with their first loss of the season and not finishing the game until one in the morning due to lightning delays.
With that being said, the Mustangs have made many changes this year from last year. Having better completion percentages, averaging a minimum of 40 yards from the running backs, and receivers averaging 37 yard catches per game. This is Herriman Highs’ comeback year, with 10 wins and 1 loss with many wins to go. The whole school has the teams back and are rooting for a good end of the season.
