All year, the personnel has been there for Timpview to be one of the top defenses in the state, and in Friday afternoon’s 5A semifinals, everything came together to showcase that ability.
It limited Salem Hills’ typically strong offense to a paltry 105 yards and just six first downs in a surprisingly easy 37-0 victory at Cedar Valley High School to advance to next week’s state championship.
It was Timpview’s first shutout of the season.
“Every year that’s obviously our goal as a team at Timpview, we want to be and expect ourselves to be in the state championship, but this year’s been different obviously. Every week that we get to play another week is another blessing to my own family, to these guys. We’re just grateful to be here,” said Timpview coach Andy Stokes.
Timpview will meet the winner of the Orem-Maple Mountain semifinal on Friday in the 5A championship, with the site and time still to be determined.
“We said last year we’d be back and here we are. We’ve been working hard. This has been the goal the whole year and we want to finish it out right,” said Timpview running back Targhee Lambson.
Lambson had another big day at the office, going over 100 yards for the fourth straight game, finishing with 197 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.
“We just really wanted to run power. We thought we could take them up front,” said Lambson.
Timpview most definitely did that, racking up 212 total yards on the ground to just 28 for Salem Hills.
While Lambson and Timpview’s offense helped keep things rolling most of the game, it was the defense that got things started.
On Salem Hills’ opening drive, Timpview star safety Raider Damuni stripped the ball from a receiver as he fell to the ground, scooping up the fumble and racing 41 yards for the touchdown and 7-0 lead.
“That’s what he do — he’s a ball player,” said Lambson.
Added Stokes, “Any time you get a defensive touchdown, it’s a game changer. That’s a 14-point swing cause you’re supposed to score on offense.”
- Watch replay: Timpview 37, Salem Hills 0
Timpview doubled the lead early in the second quarter, benefitting from a huge miscue from Salem Hills’ special teams. On a punt into the wind, the long snapper hiked the ball over the punter’s head, who instinctively raced back and jumped on the ball at the 2-yard line.
It set up Timpview with the best field position imaginable, and one play later, Lambson powered into the end zone for the 14-0 lead.
Timpview kicker Lance Taylor added to the cushion by booting a 44-yard field goal with the wind at his back as time expired in the first half.
“We think it’s a three-course game; you’ve got to be phenomenal in all three places,” said Stokes, whose team scored in all three phases in the first half.
Timpview’s defense didn’t let up after halftime either, with Damuni intercepting Salem Hills’ quarterback just two plays into the second half.
Five plays later, Carsen Ryan hauled in a 19-yard TD pass from Liu Aumavae in the corner of the end zone for the 24-0. Any hope of a Salem Hills rally was realistically extinguished on that sequence coming out of halftime.
Timpview added a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to finish off the game, the first a 12-yard run by Lambson and the second a 2-yard TD reception from Chaid Allred with 5:35 remaining.
Aumavae finished the game completing 16 of 31 passes for 177 yards and two scores.
As a team, Timpview finished with 389 yards of total offense as it looks ahead to the state title game.