Moments into its first contest of the 4A state tournament against Mountain Crest, Timpanogos got on the board and never looked back, keeping the lead the rest of the way as it soundly defeated the Mustangs 34-18 Friday in Orem.
After a first-round bye, the Timberwolves started their postseason with a trick play that saw senior running back Easton Bretzing use his arm to find senior wide receiver Luke Livingston for the score.
“We knew (Mountain Crest has) a very, very aggressive secondary,” Timpanogos head coach Austin Heaps said, “so we’re like, ‘Let’s just open with a trick play. We’ll get the ball first and (run a) trick play and just try to go up real quick 7-0’ … That was kind of the game plan and it worked just how we wanted it.”
Despite such a fast start, the Timpanogos offense struggled to get things humming on its next few drives.
“Coming off a bye is always interesting,” Heaps said. “Sometimes you feel rested, sometimes you feel rusty, and we kind of felt like the first couple drives it was a little more rust, but once that started to come off, we felt like things started to click.”
While the Timberwolves’ offense shook off some rust, they had to rely on their defense, and that side of the ball delivered, helping the school hold on to its touchdown lead for much of the first half.
A week prior, Mountain Crest scored a season-high 63 points in a win over Tooele to advance to Friday’s second-round matchup with Timpanogos. It was a much different story Friday, as the Timberwolves’ defense halted the Mustangs’ scoring attack, keeping them scoreless in the first half.
“Hats off to our defense,” Heaps said. “They shut down a pretty good team the vast majority of the game … They don’t get enough credit … The defense did such a great job of shutting it all down.”
Then with under four minutes to play in the first half, the Timpanogos offense began to get comfortable, as Timberwolves junior wide receiver Gabriel Graf took a tipped pass 46 yards to the house.
A few minutes later, Bretzing capped off another scoring drive on a 5-yard scamper into the end zone, sending Timpanogos into intermission up 20-0.
A second Bretzing score in the third quarter, followed by another Graf receiving touchdown, this time from Gabriel’s senior brother Josh Graf, gave the Timberwolves a 34-6 lead and all but ended Mountain Crest’s season.
The Mustangs finish the year with a 6-6 record and a third loss in their last four tries. The win gives Timpanogos its fifth consecutive victory, propelling the school into next week’s state quarterfinal where it will face a familiar foe in Park City.
The Timberwolves have revenge on their mind heading into their matchup with the Miners.
“We know them well,” Heaps said. “They knocked us out (of the state tournament) last year … We’re excited. This is who we want to see.”
Heaps’ squad was hoping to get another shot at the Miners after falling to them again in August, on that occasion by just two points.
Timpanogos and Park City will meet next Friday with a semifinal berth at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the line.