All that bad stuff happening put a chip on our shoulder. We’ve been practicing harder than we ever have, and we came out angry, and it paid off. – Timpview senior WR Dax Raymond
LOGAN — As the Timpview football players walked off the turf field at Logan High School with a 49-14 victory over the Grizzlies, they did so with a chorus of "cheaters never prosper" from the home team's student section.
"All that bad stuff happening put a chip on our shoulder," said Timpview senior wide receiver Dax Raymond in reference to the recent sanctions applied to his football team by the UHSAA. "We've been practicing harder than we ever have, and we came out angry, and it paid off."
Raymond caught four touchdown passes as Timpview walked all over Logan in the second half, taking the first round victory of the 4A State Tournament.
Three of those came in the first half to help TImpview to a 20-7 advantage at halftime.
"He's been doing a good job for us all season," said TImpview head coach Cary Whittingham. "We expect that out of him in a game, and he did that."
Timpview quarterback Jake Lloyd connected with Raymond on the Thunderbirds' opening drive from 42 yards out to put Timpview up 7-0.
Logan struck back a little more than two minutes later on a 34-yard pass from senior quarterback Luke Faulk to junior receiver Taylor Compton to even the score.
Lloyd and Raymond connected again from 32 yards with 2:52 left in the first quarter to go up by a touchdown. Raymond finished with nine catches for 164 yards.
Deep in the Timpview red zone, Logan went for it on fourth down and two yards to go, but Faulk's pass hit the turf in the end zone and the Grizzlies left points off of the scoreboard late in the first quarter.
"I was nervous about Logan because we all know how good Logan's offense is," Lloyd said. "I was nervous about our defensive backs and when they were getting those stops, that pushed the momentum so good for our offense."
Faulk threw an interception with fewer than two minutes left in the second quarter, leading to Lloyd's third touchdown pass of the game a few plays later.
Lloyd, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior, connected with Raymond from 11 yards with two seconds left on the clock before halftime to give Timpview the 20-7 advantage.
Lloyd finished 21-of-29 with 280 passing yards and four touchdowns to go along with a 20-yard touchdown scamper in the second half.
After another Lloyd-Raymond connection, Faulk found senior receiver Zack Rich in the middle of the end zone to cut Timpview's lead to 27-14 with minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Then the wheels fell off the Logan wagon.
Timpview sophomore Britain Covey ran the ensuing kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown, and added the 2-point conversion run to make it a 35-14 lead.
"I don't want to say it sucked the life out of us," Faulk said of the kick return, "but it was disappointing."
Timpview defensive backs Tyler Solorzano and Connor Medivil each picked off a pass in the final quarter to burn any Logan hopes of a comeback.
Lloyd added a rushing touchdown with fewer than 11 minutes and junior running back slipped past the Logan defense for a 74-yard score to make it 49-14 Thunderbirds.
Lloyd credited the win to the Thunderbird offensive line.
"I love them so much. I'm so proud of them," he said. "I think they did a great job."