July 25, 2026
By Adam Ruffner
The Salt Lake Shred endured a regular season jam-packed with slow starts and heartbreaking finishes. But in the opening round of the 2026 playoffs, the reigning West Division champions started strong and finished with a flourish in a 22-20 road win over the Seattle Cascades. The Shred were a perfect 10-of-10 from deep, making them now an astounding 22-of-22 on hucks combined over their last two meetings against the Cascades.
Salt Lake will move on to face the Oakland Spiders on August 8 in a rematch of last season’s West Division finale.
Entering the postseason on a four-game losing streak, the Shred showed no signs of lack in confidence out of the gate. Salt Lake’s offense loves to play with speed, and their first score of the game came on an easy half-field connection between age-old teammates Jacob Miller and Jordan Kerr within the first minute of game clock. Kerr had his second most productive night of the season according to Shown Space with no throwaways, while third-year homegrown product Oscar Brown had a career night in his fourth pro playoff game; Brown’s speed and attacking vision makes him a perfect fit for this Shred system, and his improved throwing abilities in 2026 give Kerr and Chad Yorgason more freedom to be mobile and pick their spots.
Salt Lake also reversed a recent trend of abysmal red zone performances, and converted a tidy 19-of-22 (86 percent) chances against the Cascades. Former offensive centerpiece handler and eldest brother Luke Yorgason has quietly transitioned to defense this season, and his team-high two blocks on Saturday night were crucial in swinging the tide; Yorgason’s block in the reset space at the beginning of the fourth quarter led to a break that pushed the Shred lead to three with just over nine minutes left in the game.
These two teams last met in the playoffs in 2024, when the Cascades stunned the Shred in Salt Lake to snatch a division title out from under the then Championship Weekend hosts. Tonight was a kind of payback for the Shred, and a win that puts Salt Lake in their fourth divisional title game in five seasons of existence.
Oakland and Salt Lake have played three previous times this season, with the Spiders winning all three. The Bay Area’s finest have not lost a game to a West Division opponent this season.
