WEST VALLEY CITY — After giving up a 90-yard touchdown scamper to Hunter's Muka Atiga early in the first quarter, Timpanogos battled back to score five unanswered touchdowns en route to a 34-7 win Friday over the Wolverines.
"I think we did a good job of playing four quarters this week," said Timberwolves head coach Brad Molen. "When (Atiga) took off on that 90-yard touchdown run on their second play of the game, I thought 'Oh no!' (Hunter) is a big strong football team."
Timpanogos quarterback Christian Stewart did most of the damage. He threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions in racking up 247 yards. He hit 16 completions on 39 attempts to lead the Timberwolves.
Atiga led the Wolverines on the ground with 126 yards and a touchdown on six carries. He also threw a completion on a halfback pass play that went for 33 yards.
"I think we have a great quarterback," Molen said. "Our receivers are all brand new. I wasn't too happy with how they did in the first half, but they really did a nice job in the second half."
To tie the game midway through the first quarter, Stewart hit Ben Laldler for a 12-yard touchdown strike.
Early in the second, the Timberwolves went up 14-7 on an 8-yard touchdown run by Taylor Lyons to cap an 88-yard drive. Stewart eliminated a big chunk of that yardage when he hit Justin Nickle for a 50-yard pass to set up the score.
In the third quarter, Stewart hooked up with Kevin Schade for a 4-yard scoring strike to give the Timberwolves a 21-7 lead, and after Timberwolves defensive back Kellen McWhorter picked off an A.J. Tueinau pass two possessions later, Stewart hooked up with Grant Jimenez for a 20-yard TD pass.
Tueinau had a rough night as he threw three interceptions. He also took a sack when Hunter was rallying for a score at the end of the first half with no timeouts. The sack kept the clock running and the Wolverines were unable to set up for a field-goal attempt before time expired.
The final score of the night came on a 35-yard Lyons run with just over 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The PAT failed and the score stayed 34-7.
"I think our defense stepped it up," Molen said. "Our offense and special teams were pretty good as well."