PLEASANT GROVE — This year’s Pleasant Grove boys sports teams know they have a lot to accomplish to keep up with last year’s senior group.
The Vikings won two 6A state championships last year and challenged for several more. This year’s football team got off to a good start as Caleb Campbell passed for 263 yards and three touchdowns, mostly on big plays, as Pleasant Grove beat Riverton 28-14 in a nonregion game.
“It’s the first one, so you never know what to expect,” said PG coach Mark Wootton, whose team had lost to Corner Canyon in its opener the last two years. “We’re a young team, and we had a lot of them step up.”
“It’s the first one, so you never know what to expect. We’re a young team, and we had a lot of them step up.” — Pleasant Grove coach Mark Wootton
It started with Campbell, a senior who played sparingly last season during the Vikings’ run to the semifinals. He got Pleasant Grove off to a good start with a nice drive that ended with a quarterback sneak for a score. After Riverton rallied to tie, Campbell gave Pleasant Grove some breathing room in the second quarter when he lofted a pair of touchdown passes — one to Kael Mikkelsen and one to Porter Connors, who both managed to corral the ball in between a pair of Riverton defenders.
The Silverwolves were never out of the game. They just couldn’t match the Vikings’ ability to make big plays. After Mikkelsen got behind the defense to grab a 63-yard scoring pass to give Pleasant Grove a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, the Vikings forced a punt that Kreed Trane blocked and then recovered at the Riverton 37.
On the next play, Campbell found Connors, who leaped high over a pair of Riverton defensive backs and gave the Vikings a 21-7 advantage just before intermission.
“They (the Silverwolves) had good coverage, but I knew that if anyone could go up and get the ball, it was Connors,” Wootton said.
Campbell added a third touchdown throw early in the fourth quarter after Pleasant Grove’s defense continued to hold Riverton mostly in check. The Silverwolves had some highlights, headed wide receiver Carter Miller, who grabbed several deep throws from quarterback Makai Johnson, and also gave the Riverton crowd some thrills with three impressive kickoff returns.
Junior Caden Meyers also prevented another Pleasant Grove touchdown when he intercepted a pass in the end zone.
Riverton’s offense, though, was held to just 64 rushing yards, and its biggest play came when Isaac Rengers faked a punt attempt and ran 15 yards for a first down, but the drive eventually fizzled.