High school football: American Fork’s defense wills it to 6A playoff win over Lehi

Three interceptions and a fumble easily could’ve been the story of the end of American Fork’s season, as the Cavemen didn’t come into Friday’s 6A first round game against Lehi with much force.

But those miscues didn’t matter as American Fork cleaned up its mistakes and advanced with a 21-20 victory over the Pioneers.

“Lehi is much better than a 10 seed in these playoffs,” said American Fork head coach Aaron Behm. “To be able to come out and play against them well enough to win a game just says that these guys have continued to work and get better.”

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It was a tough first half for the Cavemen offense and quarterback Nate Childs. American Fork fumbled on its first drive of the game, and Childs threw two interceptions in the first half.

Meanwhile, Lehi’s Wyatt Bingham connected on two touchdown passes to Legend Glasker. American Fork’s defense played well enough to hold Lehi to those two first-half touchdowns, and the Cavemen also managed to punch in two touchdowns despite the miscues.

However, the way American Fork played for most of the first half was unsustainable, and if something didn’t change, the Cavemen would surely break.

Luckily, the American Fork defense came to the rescue, starting just before halftime.

Childs threw his second interception of the game with just 2:30 left in the half, but despite good field position for Lehi, American Fork held it to just a field goal and went into halftime down 17-14.

The trend continued into the second half.

Lehi received the kickoff to start the second half, but the Cavemen forced a three-and-out. The offense still struggled as Childs threw his third pick of the night halfway through the third quarter, but once again, the defense held Lehi to just a field goal despite the short field.

“They played great,” Behm said of his defense. “They gave up a couple of big plays early, corrected it and they were dominant in the second half.

“We turned the ball over four times on short fields, then holding them to field goals, there’s the difference in the game.”

The defense did its job and more on multiple short fields, and then it was the offense’s turn to do its job.

Down 20-14, American Fork’s offense finally got a second-half score after it marched down early in the fourth quarter. It got down to the Lehi 1 yard line, and Childs ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown.

Despite three interceptions on the night, Childs had two rushing touchdowns and one in the air to Christian Hanshaw.

“Anytime anybody makes a mistake, we’re just picking each other back up and we’re coming out here and fighting every single play,” Childs said.

“My teammates, they trusted in me. My coaches trusted me to come out and make a play, and I’m just grateful that I was given this chance to come out here and play football.”

American Fork didn’t have much time to celebrate. On the ensuing kickoff, the Cavemen special teams gave up a significant return as Lehi’s Cam Wren ran it back to American Fork’s 25.

But just as it had done all night, the American Fork defense was stifling despite a short field.

This time it was sophomore linebacker Ty Wilson‘s turn to get a big play. Wilson snagged an interception just 20 seconds after the kickoff return to put the game away.

“Our scout team did a really good job preparing us all week. Good preparation,” Wilson said. “We knew it was coming. Big team stop right there. That’s what this team’s made of.”

American Fork’s postseason Region 3 gauntlet won’t end here. Next week the Cavemen will see another familiar face in Region 3 co-champion Skyridge.