LEHI — With head coach Andy Stokes and his wife, Tia, both absent from the sidelines, Timpview put forth one of its best outings of the year, beating Region 7 foe Lehi 28-14 on Friday.
Tia Stokes hasn’t been able to infuse the T-Bird sideline with her infectious energy all year because she has leukemia, with Timpview players mindful of her absence with every rep they’ve taken this season. As for Andy Stokes, he’s been in quarantine due to COVID-19 since Monday, according to defensive lineman Logan Fano.
“With Tia always in mind, we stepped it up tonight,” Fano said. “... Our defense just felt inspired to play for (Coach Stokes) and for Tia today.”
The inspiration was apparent, perhaps particularly on the defensive end, where Fano and his teammates held what can be a prolific Lehi offense scoreless through three quarters.
Defensive plays were made by everyone, with Fano himself leading a dominant performance by the T-Bird defensive line, which had Lehi quarterback Creyton Cooper rushed and out of system for most of the night.
“It was the whole defensive line, collectively, and the linebackers,” Fano said. “Some of those sacks I didn’t have to make a move, but my guys were there for me, allowing me to make those plays.”
Meanwhile, Timpview’s offense, a unit that has had its share of trouble throughout the year, was able to keep pace with the defense’s performance.
Leading off the scoring was quarterback Liu Aumavae hitting Daniel Kaio with a 13-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter. Then it was Micah Beckstead scoring the first of his two running touchdowns, finishing off the first quarter with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone, stretching the lead to 14-0, which held until the end of the first half.
“A huge thing was the offense stepping up today,” Fano said. “I know at the first of the year a lot of people were saying they were slow and all that, but those guys just tuned out the haters and did their thing, and you saw it tonight.”
The Timpview offense put together long drives for most of the night and did perhaps its best work in the third quarter, scoring two more touchdowns to forge a commanding 28-0 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Standing out for the Timpview defense, along with Fano, was defensive back Ammon Key, who started off the game with a key interception to help set up his team’s first touchdown, and then ended it with another on Lehi’s final drive.
“I love Ammon, and he’s one of the hardest workers on our team,” Fano said. “Him having a game like he did today just shows how much work he puts in.”
With the win, Timpview improves to 3-3 on the year and will look to keep it rolling when taking on Orem next Friday. Lehi drops to 4-3 with the loss and will look to rebound when taking on Alta.