AMERICAN FORK — American Fork took down Westlake, 44-28, on homecoming Friday night with a great offensive performance.
The Cavemen got the early lead and were a scoring machine the entire game. At the end of the first half, the Cavemen led the Thunder 31-14.
The Cavemen marched down the field making it look easy and finished off their first drive of the game with a touchdown pass from Tanner Smith to Ben Cummings.
Following a missed Westlake field goal, American Fork went 80 yards capped by a 5-yard run by running back Zach Katoa to make the Cavemen lead 14-0.
The Thunder got on the board when Stockton Rentfro intercepted an American Fork pass and returned it for a touchdown to cut the Cavemen lead to 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Cavemen came right and started the second quarter off on a good note with a 4-yard touchdown reception by Coleson Warley from Gavin Williams to increase the lead to 21-7.
But Westlake came right back and quarterback Anthony Condie threw a 41-yard bomb to Timothy Forsyth for the touchdown to bring it to a one touchdown lead for American Fork at 21-14.
American Fork regained the momentum when Katoa finished off a 50-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run.
With Westlake poised to cut into the lead just before the half, American Fork's Fili Tuafua intercepted a Westlake pass and the Cavemen eventually turned it into three points on a Jackson Nadauld 23-yard field goal to bump the lead to 31-14.
Westlake was looking to make a game out if it as it marched down the field and Condie threw a touchdown pass to Forsyth to give the Thunder some momentum and cut the deficit to 10.
But Smith had other ideas as he led his team yet again down the field and threw another touchdown to extend the Cavemen lead to 38-21.
The Cavemen wanted to seal the game and Katoa made it happen. He took a handoff and ran it 56 yards into Thunder territory to eventually set up a Nadauld field goal.
But on the very next drive, Westlake fumbled and American Fork recovered. Katoa went on another huge run — this time being 66 yards — but the Cavemen had to settle on a 20-yard Nadauld field goal to seal the Cavemen homecoming win.
The Thunder scored one more time but it did not make much of a difference in the final outcome.
The Cavemen host Lone Peak this Thursday, while the Thunder host Herriman Friday for homecoming.