AMERICAN FORK — Note to the 5A classification: American Fork is for real.
The Cavemen made a statement in a big way Friday night with a 35-27 win over Highland, a victory that was much bigger than the final score indicated.
Senior quarterback Taylor Mangum threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more in a solid offensive performance. The Caveman defense flexed its muscle by racking up seven sacks on the night while limiting Highland to just 26 offensive yards in the decisive first half, when American Fork jumped out to a 28-7 lead.
After Highland opened the scoring on a 42-yard interception return by Jake Webber, American Fork simply took over. On a long drive to start the second quarter, the Cavemen got on the board on an eight yard run by Mangum.
The Rams fumbled on the first play of the following possession, and Mangum wasted no time in making them pay as he connected with Matt Harward for a 35-yard score to take the lead and drive the home side into a frenzy.
After the kickoff, Highland put the ball on the ground for the Cavemen to recover and Mangum again struck quickly, placing a perfectly thrown ball in the corner of the endzone, where Jake Murphy snagged the ball with one hand for the 29-yard touchdown.
Murphy and Mangum hooked up again a few moments later on a 31-yard bomb. After the explosion, American Fork headed into the locker room with a 21-point cushion.
The defensive swarm continued in the second half, as Ram quarterback Sean Swenson was pressured on every play. After the Highland offense was unable to capitalize on two turnovers, Mangum got his team back on track as he took a quarterback draw up the middle, cut to the left sideline, and outran the defenders for a 70-yard score.
While both coaches began to empty the bench during the fourth quarter, the Rams refused to roll over and die. Tonata Lauti ripped off a 77-yard run with just more than four minutes remaining to pull Highland back into respectable range.
The Ram defense held one more time and forced a punt, after which Jake Webber hauled in a 17-yard pass from backup quarterback Critter Nielson to make the score 35-21 with 20 seconds to go.
Highland recovered an onside kick, and had 10 seconds to punch it in. After an incomplete deep pass, Nielson again found Webber deep as the two hooked-up for a 53-yard touchdown to provide the final score.