Led by a defense that has yielded just 13 points over the past two games, the Orem Tigers bested the Mountain View Bruins 17-7. The Tiger victory both spoiled the Bruins' Homecoming and their undefeated record. Orem will go into the Region 7 gridiron wars with a 3-1 nonregion mark.
This isn't an easy game for Orem head coach Robert Steele, as he lives in Mountain View boundaries and knows many of its players. "It's great when you win (this game), but it's horrible when you lose."
The rivalry had a lot of big hits, intense play and, of course, the usual pregame rituals of students vandalizing the other team's field before the big game.
"It's seems like every year that the students from both schools will do something stupid," Steele said. Orem has dominated this rivalry and got another win on the rival's home turf thanks to their hard hitting and swarming defense and an effective ground-control offense.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers' Gordon Hopkins plunged in from 3 yards. Orem chewed up much of the clock with a nine-play drive, all runs, including a 17-yarder by Jordan Gleason and a 15-yarder by Bryan Gonzalez on a reverse.
The Bruins had two chances to score in the second stanza but scuttled both away. Brian Smith missed a 37-yard field goal, and after collecting a Tiger fumble the Bruins gave the ball right back on the next play with a fumble of their own.
Orem looked to go ahead even further as quarterback Jason Golightly hooked up with Gonzalez on what appeared to be a 35-yard TD pass. However, the officials felt Gonzalez pushed off, the score was nullified, and then the Tigers missed a 55-yard field goal.
In the third quarter Orem extended its lead to 14-0 thanks to an explosive 30-yard run by Jake Balser. The Tigers were aided on a pass-interference penalty as Golightly again tried to hook up with Gonzalez on a deep route. The next play Balser took it in and Mountain View's hopes for Homecoming victory seemed to be fading away.
The Bruins had some fight left when Corbin Carlson stepped in front of a Golightly pass late in the third quarter. This set up the Bruins on the Tiger 25-yard line. The Tiger defense, tough all night, didn't give up the score without a fight and forced Mountain View to convert a fourth-down-and-inches before Raymound Mounga's 1-yard TD and Smith PAT cut the lead to 14-7.
The Tiger offense then took charge in the final quarter with a ground assault led by Balser and Tom Steele. With 4:15 left Nate Kilpack connected on a 37-yard field goal to push the Tiger lead to 17-7. It was then left up to the Orem defense, and in the last two minutes Isaac Strong and Balser secured two interceptions to lock up the win.