SALT LAKE CITY — Bumping up a classification this season, Orem purposely tried to play a tough preseason schedule to prepare for what it assumed would be a tougher playoff path. The result was just five wins during the regular season.
Orem coach Jeremy Hill believes the adversity of the regular season strengthened the resolve of his team, and five playoff wins later the Tigers are state champs again.
Buoyed by another dominant defensive effort in the playoffs Orem pulled away from Timpview in the second half 21-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday night to claim its third straight state championship and its first in 5A.
“These boys have been resilient all year long. We’ve dealt with coaching suspensions and injured players and everything, and the RPI and going on the road and doing all we’ve done. They’re battle tested,” said Hill.
“It’s a bunch of warriors. It’s a bunch of family over there, and I love those boys. 4A, 5A, 6A, all great levels, and we’re thankful we were able to move up and go get one more here and show that we’re one of the top teams in Utah.”
Even though Orem’s offense struggled against a gritty Timpview defense on Friday, its defense made play after play all night, forcing three turnovers and only allowing 222 yards of total offense — and just 20 passing yards.
Timpview scored its only touchdown with 2:02 remaining on a Sione Moa 12-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. The T-Birds even recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Orem’s Brody Monson halted that last desperation drive with an interception near the goal line to seal the win. It was his second interception of the game.
In a previous meeting against Timpview this year, Orem prevailed 28-10, but the T-Birds were confident heading into the championship after revamping their offense after that game and evolving into more of a smash-mouth running team.
Orem was excited to race a rejuvenated Timpview team.
“We noticed that they changed their offense to see if they could run, but little do they know we’re a run defense before our pass, and once we shut down their run, they started to pass the ball and that’s when we got our picks and got our turnovers,” said Orem defensive lineman Paxton Skipps.
Targhee Lambson and Sione Moa combined to rush for 210 yards on 38 carries, but they never could break the big one against Orem.
“We had eight in the box most of the game, and we have the top linebackers in the state, and we have a gritty, undersized D-line that doesn’t give up. That O-line for Timpview is huge and we battled them all night and we took on double teams and we did a good job for the most of containing that running attack,” said Hill.
Through the first three quarters, it looked as if Micah Fe’a’s 70-yard TD pass to Jaxon Williams on a busted coverage in the first quarter might hold up as the only score of the game as both offenses stalled regularly. They combined for five interceptions.
“These boys have been resilient all year long. We’ve dealt with coaching suspensions and injured players and everything, and the RPI and going on the road and doing all we’ve done. They’re battle tested.” — Orem head coach Jeremy Hill
Timpview had a chance to tie the score right before halftime on a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line, but Joe Smith intercepted a pass near the back of the end zone to preserve the 7-0 lead.
Orem realistically put the game out of reach, taking a 14-0 lead with 8:48 remaining in the game on a 48-yard TD run by Noah Sewell straight through the heart of Timpview’s defense on fourth-and-short.
Two series earlier, Orem punted on a fourth-and-short, and Sewell made it known to the coaches he definitely wasn’t happy with the decision not to get the ball on the short-yardage situation.
- Watch the replay: Orem 21, Timpview 7
Hill said when the opportunity presented itself later in the game with a bit better field position, giving the ball to Sewell was an easy decision.
“We had that moment of, ‘Do we punt it? Do we give it to him?’ He took that ball and does what No. 2 does,” said Hill.
Orem scored again with 3:14 remaining on a 5-yard TD run from Cayden Viertel to stretch the lead to 21-7 before Timpview’s late score spoiled Orem’s bid for another championship shutout. In 2017, the Tigers blanked Mountain Crest in the title game.