A few pivotal moments made all the difference in Springville’s 21-14 victory Friday evening against Provo.
It took a defensive touchdown, multiple quarterbacks and gutsy play calling, but the Red Devils came out on top.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Springville head coach Dave Valeti said. “Many of our games aren’t, but the kids have bought into doing whatever it takes, so it was a good win.”
Despite being unconventional, Springville’s play proved effective as it moved to 3-0 following its win over the Bulldogs.
“Nobody has an ego,” Valeti said of his team. “That’s the biggest thing. … We know, to go where we want … we got to be a little more dynamic, and we’re just going to keep working at it.”
The Red Devils’ offense did not cross midfield in the first half but the team went into the break tied at 7 thanks to an 88-yard pick-six from junior defensive end Stafford Small on the Bulldogs’ first possession.
Provo came up scoreless again on its second possession after driving to the Springville 25-yard line before throwing another interception.
“We played defense for … 90 percent of the first quarter and the second quarter,” Valeti said, “so by the time we got the ball on offense … some of our guys were a little bit gassed.”
The Springville offense began humming to open the second half. The Red Devils used a strong ground attack and took up 6:50 of game clock to retake the lead on a 3-yard direct-snap touchdown run from senior tight end Tua Naufahu.
However, Provo found the end zone on a 3-yard run from senior running back Malik Filimoeatu with 5:08 to play that knotted the score back at 14.
The tie wouldn’t last long as Springville caught the Bulldogs off guard for an 80-yard touchdown pass on its next play from scrimmage.
Despite using senior quarterback Lisiate Valeti mostly as a runner throughout the night, the Red Devils had him throw a deep ball, finding senior wide receiver Zachary Henderson behind the defense in the middle of the field for what proved to be the game-winning score.
“I think it even caught me off guard a little bit,” coach Valeti said of the 80-yard touchdown before praising his offensive coordinator Doug Bills for the play call.
“He’s been doing it for a long time and I think it shows that he has confidence in our guys to call it right there at that point.”
From there, Springville had to rely on its defense, which came up with a fourth down stop to all but end the contest. After referees initially called a Bulldogs’ first down, coach Valeti requested a measurement that showed Provo was short by a hair.
Though the Red Devils’ head coach was pleased with Friday’s outcome, he feels his team needs to keep getting better.
“We have so much room to improve,” he said. “We’ve beat three really good teams, and we can only get better.”
Springville will look to remain unbeaten when it begins region play on the road at Orem next week Friday at 7 p.m. Provo will play again that day in Idaho against Rocky Mountain, beginning at 5 p.m.