American Fork stifles late Timpview push
American Fork battled with nationally ranked Mater Dei in Week 2. The Cavemen kept it within a touchdown’s reach until the Monarchs pulled away in the fourth quarter.
American Fork didn’t get any reprieve this week, as Timpview awaited, and the Cavemen had to overcome a fourth-quarter surge for the 28-26 win.
It was close through the first half, but American Fork started to pull away with a fumble recovery in the end zone by Dalin Afu with just 15 seconds left in the second quarter.
Then, the Cavemen pushed their lead further to 28-14 with another score in the third quarter.
Timpview made a strong rally in the fourth quarter behind two touchdown receptions by Dennis Tua’one. However, the difference in the game was in the PATs.
After the first touchdown, a missed PAT made the gap eight points, so when Tua’one found the end zone again with just 3:24 left, Timpview had to go for two.
Yet again, American Fork held on and kept Timpview out of the end zone. The Thunderbirds scored four touchdowns on Friday, but failed on three PATs.
“A few huge special teams plays really helped against a super talented Timpview team,” said American Fork head coach Aaron Behm. “The blocked extra points by Dalin Afu and Christian Hanshaw were the difference in the game.
“The punt of Jace Worthington right before half to pin them at the one and allow our defense to force a fumble and jump on it were huge.”
Bountiful wins in chaotic fashion
Friday’s game between Bountiful and Syracuse had plenty of wild scores, with two defensive touchdowns, a kick return and a field goal from 50 yards out.
In all the chaos, Bountiful got out with the 36-33 win.
It was a battle from the beginning. A Syracuse field goal was the lone score in the first quarter, but the teams combined for 45 total points in the second.
Bountiful got two scores from distance from quarterback Hudson Malmrose, but a 90-yard interception return from Kao Prom kept the Titans in it.
As the teams traded scores, Syracuse looked like it was about to take a 27-14 lead into halftime after scoring a 42-yard touchdown throw from Ledger Wight to Jack Benoit with just one second left in the half.
However, Bountiful’s Braden Boucha closed the gap on a 99-yard kickoff return to end the half.
Bountiful then held Syracuse to just one score in the second half, while it pulled away for the 36-33 win.
“We were very proud of our guys for a great team victory against a really tough Syracuse team,” said Bountiful coach Jason Freckleton. “We had many players step up and have great individual performances, like Braden Boucha scoring in all three phases of the game, but we are most proud of the team performance.
“Everyone on the team supported and believed in each other.”
The Redhawks scheduled three 6A opponents to open the year, and they went 2-1, losing only to Herriman.
Mountain Crest wins battle of Cache Valley foes
Both Mountain Crest and Logan entered Week 3 with a 2-0 record, meaning only one could walk away from their clash with a perfect record intact.
It went down to the final minute, but it was Mountain Crest that won 28-26 after defending against a two-point conversion attempt.
It stayed tight between the two sides all game, but Mountain Crest pulled away in the second half.
It trailed 20-14 but made up ground with touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
Meanwhile, Logan was held scoreless through nearly all of the second half. That is, until the Grizzlies’ Easton Favero ran into the end zone with just 32 seconds left.
Still trailing by two points, Logan had no choice but to go for two. But as it had done much of the evening, Mountain Crest’s defense held on for the win.
“Great game, back and forth throughout,” Mountain Crest head coach Ryan Visser said. “Proud of the team for handling adversity and adjustments.
“Defense did a great job in the second half holding up a very explosive offense. They also came up big on the two-point conversion to keep the lead. Offense scored when we ultimately needed to, converting on several 4th downs on the way to touchdowns. Excited to learn from this one and move on to the next.”
Salem Hills escapes defensive battle
Thanks to multiple lightning delays, Friday’s defensive battle between Desert Hills and Salem Hills went on for over four hours.
While the Skyhawks’ offense never got hot, it got going at just the right time to pull out the close 14-12 win.
It was a strange game for Salem Hills. Not only did it experience three lightning delays, but it was down 12-0 until late in the third quarter.
Fresh off a barn-burner loss to Spanish Fork in Week 2, Salem Hills wasn’t eager to lose another so soon.
“We had adversity with three delays and got down two touchdowns,” said Salem Hills coach Jeff Higginson. “We felt we let the game get away last week, and had a chance to close it out and came up short.”
In response, the Skyhawks refused to give up another score while their offense finally found one of their own late in the third quarter when quarterback Cash Hollingshead got his team on the board with an 11-yard pass to Peyton Higginson.
With a win just a touchdown away, Hollingshead quickly scored again on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Smith early in the fourth quarter for the lead and the win.
“We played with grit, effort and tremendous physicality,” Higginson said. “We can build off this going forward. It was a great gut check for our football team.”
Mountain View claims late win
After Mountain View and Union battled back and forth in the first half, the second half offered little offense. Neither team scored in the third quarter, and Mountain View held just a slight 14-12 lead.
Both of the Bruins’ first-half scores were from distance. The first came on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Hyrum Stafford to Brigham Moses, and the second came from 50 yards out, from Stafford to Koa Giles.
Union missed both its PAT attempts in the first half, resulting in the two-point lead for Mountain View.
Despite the scoreless third quarter, Union took the lead with a run from Dylan Watahomigie for a 19-14 lead.
Then, with four minutes left remaining, Stafford connected again with Moses from 30 yards out to retake the lead. The successful run from Stafford on the two-point try kept Mountain Ridge three points ahead.
After losing by just one point to Payson in Week 1, Mountain View has now responded with back-to-back wins.