High school football: Heimuli now has leadership role for Bengals

Brighton's Ricky Heimuli has entered a new realm this year. He's no longer just a talented player with unlimited potential, but rather a dedicated leader who's willing to put the team before his own ambitions.

He's happy to play on the offensive line even though virtually every school west of the Mississippi River has tried to recruit him for his defensive line exploits. He's been willing to put in the extra time in the weight room, and now he holds the state record in the power clean at 355 pounds.

"The biggest thing he's doing right now is he's being a leader for us. He's a senior and everything matters a little bit more when you're a senior," said Brighton coach Ryan Bullett. "His leadership is incredible right now, that's the biggest things he's doing for us."

Even though Brighton suffered its first loss of the season Friday night at Lone Peak, the improved Bengals are still 3-1 on the season and feature one of the stingiest defenses in the state. Heimuli is a huge reason for the success. He's drawing constant double teams from his defensive line position, which is freeing things up for Brighton's linebackers.

"If there's two people on me then there's at least one person getting through the line. That helps with our tackles for loss and three and outs," said Heimuli. "Our defense is just bringing it. This is our first year with a 3-5. Our players this year are more dedicated than previous years. This new approach brought a spark to our team."

The big question college football fans want to know is where will Heimuli, the cousin of University of Utah freshman Latu Heimuli, play at the next level? Not even he knows the answer to that question.

Heimuli is still trying to narrow his list of colleges down to five so he can start planning his official recruiting visits, but for the most part it's more troublesome right now than anything.

"If I focused on recruiting then I wouldn't be full focused on the team, and the team is my No. 1 priority right now," said the 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman.

Heimuli still gets weekly phone calls from the schools in the running for his services, and they include Utah, Washington, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Michigan State.

Rivals.com has Heimuli ranked as the second best recruit in Utah behind Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi, and he's ranked as the sixth best defensive tackle prospect in the country.

Brighton's coach said he hasn't spoken with Heimuli in a while about recruiting matters but suspects he'll likely remain in Utah or end up in California.