High school football: Despite best efforts of senior Sione Moa, Timpview falls short in championship game

SALT LAKE CITY — Bruised and battered, Timpview senior Sione Moa fought back tears while embraced by teammates and loved ones Friday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Over and over again, Moa, his teammates and coaches embraced and uttered three words aloud to one other: “I love you.”

The Timpview Thunderbirds lost to the Orem Tigers 21-7 in the 5A state championship game and defeat was written on their faces, but not despair. 

Instead, there was love, admiration and support.

Timpview gave everything it had in the loss and came up short, and it hurt, but there was plenty to be proud of.

Especially Moa.

1 of 15

2 of 15

3 of 15

4 of 15

5 of 15

6 of 15

7 of 15

8 of 15

9 of 15

10 of 15

11 of 15

12 of 15

13 of 15

14 of 15

15 of 15

In his final high school football game, Moa was a game changer, playing safety, running back and quarterback at various times, with much aplomb.

As a defensive back, he intercepted Orem quarterback Micah Fe’a.

As a running back, he and Targhee Lambson rushed for a combined 202 yards.

As a quarterback, he sparked the T-Birds and led them to their one and only touchdown of the game, a 20-yard scamper by Moa himself.

“He is a spark,” Timpview head coach Andy Stokes said. “He always is. We play him at safety and he gets a pick; play him at running back, and he gets long runs; play him at quarterback, and he sparks the team. We are proud of him. He is a phenomenal football player and has a lot of football left in him.”

Moa was the standout but refused to take credit for his efforts. He was all about his team.

“I looked at my brothers and we needed it so I did whatever I could do to help them out,” he said. “Not for myself, but to help them out.”

Help he did as Timpview had its share of chances at winning the state championship, despite fumbled snaps, two of which were recovered by Orem, and three interceptions, two thrown by Elijah Allen and another by Moa.

Even with those mistakes, the T-Birds were 6 inches away from winning the state title, per Stokes.

“I think we are 6 inches away from being there,” Stokes said. “We watch film, get the film on the sideline, and we were literally 6 inches away from getting big plays. We were literally that close. We get those 6, and we win.”

• Watch replay: Orem 21, Timpview 7

Stokes credited Orem for preventing his team from getting those six inches — “They don’t just give them up. You have to fight for them, and they did a phenomenal job taking them” — while maintaining optimism for the future.

“We have a lot of these kids coming back and they will remember how this feels,” he said. “They will remember how to do it now.”

According to Moa, there is no better group of teammates, either.

“We talk about brotherhood on this team and we are a brotherhood. These are all my brothers,” he said. “I played with them for a short amount of time, but I felt that bond when I was here. I wouldn’t go to war with anybody else. They mean the world to me.”