HYRUM — Lone Peak silenced a tenacious Mountain Crest offense to beat the Mustangs 23-20 Friday night.
Lone Peak took the first lead with a 42-yard field goal kicked by Ryne MacPherson midway through the second quarter. Mountain Crest answered back with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Alex Kuresa to take a 7-3 lead.
The Knights finished the game with no turnovers, while the Mustangs turned it over three times.
"We stressed discipline in practice and it made the difference this week in preparation, and it worked out for us in the game," said Lone Peak head coach Tony McGeary.
Lone Peak used tough defense to hold a potent Mountain Crest offense to 375 total yards of offense. Kyson Flake had two touchdowns and an interception for Lone Peak.
"We weren't too worried about our defense, but our offense this week in practice — no jacking around — everyone was focused. We knew we had to get this," Flake said.
The Knights opened the second half with a 41/2-minute drive. Quarterback Tannon Pedersen capped off the drive with a TD pass to Flake for a 9-7 lead, but MacPherson missed the extra point. Coach McGeary praised his playmakers.
"They are our go-to guys; we count on them," he said.
The Mustangs answered back with a drive of their own, capped by a halfback pass from Alex Knowles to Tyler Weese for the touchdown.
Flake caught his second TD pass of the game with 21/2 minutes left in the third period to put the Knights up by two, 16-14.
Mountain Crest head coach Mark Wootton hoped his team learned a lot from this game.
"It's a great team for us to play. It really challenged us, it really pushed us, and hopefully we will get better because of it," Wootton said.
Mountain Crest scored its last touchdown two minutes into the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run by Knowles to put the Mustangs up 20-16. After two Lone Peak punts, Mountain Crest had the ball with just over three minutes to play but couldn't get the first down.
The Knights took over with 1:48 left and wasted no time in scoring. Pedersen connected with Chase Lindsey on a 73-yard touchdown pass 40 seconds later. Mountain Crest had no answer, as Kuresa threw an interception to seal it for the Knights.
"We didn't play very well but I think Lone Peak had a lot to do with that," Wootton said.