The American Fork Cavemen moved to 2-0 on the early season, defeating their cross-town rivals the Orem Tigers 24-20.
In a game that was close throughout, American Fork’s defense came up huge when it needed it most.
Trailing by four with two minutes left, Orem had the ball on American Fork’s 3-yard line. Orem quarterback Asher Young, who replaced an injured Lance Reynolds earlier in the half, fumbled the snap on third down but was able to recover, giving his team one last chance to take the lead late.
The Cavemen were able to make a game saving stop on fourth down, sealing the narrow victory.
The majority of the scoring took place in the first half, with touchdowns from Gunner Michaelis and Jacob Dean as well as a field goal from Payton Roth for American Fork.
The Tigers were also able to grab a score from Young, but the Cavemen took a 17-13 advantage into the halftime break.
It was all about the defenses for both sides in the second half, with only scores coming from Aiden Brown for Orem and American Fork getting a much-needed touchdown from Josh Andrus with 6 minutes left, which would prove to be the game-winner.
While speaking of Orem, American Fork head coach Aaron Behm had nothing but high praise for the opposition.
“Orem’s got athletes all over the field. One of their guys went down and our defense made just enough plays to get the job done. Hats off to them, they battled and thankfully we were able to come away with this victory,” said Behm.
American Fork was led by senior quarterback Dylan Story, who remained composed and limited his mistakes while under center.
“Story has just been a really calming presence back there. He doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low. He is still growing and learning how to be a starting quarterback. He made some really big throws for us tonight and really came up huge,” added Behm.
Behm feels that if his team can keep up the energy and passion throughout the season, big things are in store for the Cavemen.
“I love the leadership that a lot of our guys are showing,” he said. “They show up to practice every day with energy ready to get better. As long as they keep that attitude, they’ll have a really high ceiling this season.”