In a tightly contested Region 7 matchup, the Timpanogos Timberwolves defeated the Tooele Buffaloes 48-34 behind the crisp and disciplined quarterback play of senior Matu Holdaway.
Holdaway rushed for one touchdown and threw for four passing touchdowns. Timberwolves receiver Luke Livingston also had a big night for Timpanogos, scoring on three different occasions throughout the night.
It was a high scoring first half, with both offenses seeming up to the task and matching one another throughout.
It was Tooele who scored first on a 5-yard run up the middle by Mateaki Helu.
Timpanogos quickly answered when Livingston got his first score of the night, finding himself on the receiving end of a 16-yard Holdaway pass.
Tooele took the lead once again midway through the first quarter after a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Payton Sprouse to receiver Gabe Medina.
Not soon after, Holdaway found another one of his receiving targets, this time connecting with Matthew Torgensen on a 40-yard bomb down the sideline.
The lone offensive blunder by Timpanogos came at the beginning of the second quarter when they fumbled the ball, with Tooele’s Brock Thrall gathering the ball and finding his way to the end zone on a 71 yard score.
“We have a tight-knit group and there’s not just one kid that teams can key in on.” — Timpanogos head coach Austin Heaps
Holdway would then answer, tying the game up on a short 1-yard keeper into the end zone.
The Timberwolves would find themselves with the lead heading into the halftime break after a 30-yard diving touchdown reception by Livingston.
Timpanogos head coach Austin Heaps knew adjustments needed to be made on the defensive side of the ball in the second half if they were to pull away and get the victory. Those changes were made and the Timberwolves defense stepped up, holding Tooele scoreless throughout the majority of the second half.
Two second-half rushing touchdowns by running back Josh Jones helped secure the all-important victory for the Timberwolves.
“We made the adjustments we needed at halftime to shut Tooele’s offense down. We were able to limit their running back. We gave them a touchdown early on but I just knew that if we were able to carryout our game plan they wouldn’t be able to hang with us,” said Heaps.
While Holdaway and Livingston were the standouts on the night, Heaps made it clear that it was a complete team effort in order to get the victory.
“We have a tight-knit group and there’s not just one kid that teams can key in on. Typically, in high school if you take out one important player then your team will struggle and that just wasn’t the case with us. We are able to spread the wealth around which is very nice.”
The victory improves Timpanogos’ record to 8-1 (5-1 in region), while Tooele drops to 7-2 on the season and 5-2 in region play.