PAYSON — The nerves extended from the field to the sidelines as Timpanogos and Payson kicked off the 2009 football season on Friday night. With both schools breaking in new head coaches, Brad King for the Timberwolves and Jeremy Chapman for the Lions, the teams had some rust to shake off before Timpanogos took control of the game and coasted to a 21-12 victory.
"Well, it's an exciting thing," said King following his first win as the T-Wolves coach. "We hope that it sets a good precedence, but we've got to play a lot better than we did tonight." After the sluggish start, a shootout broke out with Timpanogos (0-0, 1-0) jumping on the board first with an 80-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Damian Rivers to JD Ashman. A defensive breakdown in the Lion secondary left Ashman all alone streaking down the middle of the field where Rivers hit him in perfect stride giving the T-Wolves the 7-0 lead. Not to be out done, and also after a slow start, the offense for Payson (0-0,0-1) showed up early in the second quarter when Colton Cannon found receiver Cris Robbins for a 24-yard touchdown strike of its own.
On the ensuing drive, Timpanogos again found pay dirt as starting quarterback Brooks Fowler connected with junior Braden Nickle for a 76-yard touchdown pass. With less than a minute remaining before the half, the Lions answered back when Cannon found Robbins for a 60-yard pass down to the T-Wolves 4-yard line. Payson capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass from Cannon to Robbins as time expired, cutting the deficit to 14-12 at half.
"We didn't give up," King said. "We had some mistakes that cost us points right there at the end of the half, but we came right back out fighting in the second half and shut them out."
The high-octane passing games took a back seat in the second half as Timpanogos ensured control of the game by methodically driving the ball down the field setting up Fowler for a four-yard touchdown jaunt to take a 21-12 lead. The Timpanogos defense took over from there behind the stellar pass rush of the defensive line.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Lions recovered a fumble deep in there own territory. Payson used a time-consuming drive to get into scoring position with a first and goal inside the Timpanogos five-yard line. The toughness of the T-Wolves defense showed as they held the Lions out of the end zone before taking over on downs.
"The defense really stepped up on that one," King said. "They played tough coverage and our linebackers came up with some key sacks. When they're scrambling around trying to get away from our guys, that gives us the advantage."