The Spanish Fork Dons did not get the start they wanted against the Payson Lions on Thursday.
The Lions scored on the first drive of the game when Crusik Deichman pulled in a 15-yard touchdown pass, and then the Dons responded by getting down to the 10 yard line before getting stuffed on a fourth down to come up empty.
But after the disappointing start, Spanish Fork responded by outscoring the Lions 35-0 over the remainder of the first half and cruised to a dominant 49-21 road win.
“That’s not exactly how we wanted to start the game,” said Spanish Fork coach Brock Condie. “They caught us on that inside route, and we learned from it, cleaned it up. We knew they’ve got athletes, and so we had to settle down and just play our game.”
Spanish Fork’s offense was nearly unstoppable after its opening drive — especially as the offensive line got going — and running back James Buck took advantage.
Buck scored on three consecutive drives to put Spanish Fork up 21-7 midway through the second quarter.
“Credit to our offensive line and our coaches getting them prepared,” Condie said. “Our offensive line, they played hard, they’re tough and that’s really what opened up those holes for Buck.”
It wasn’t as if the Dons were never tested. Payson got them in a few third-and-long situations, but quarterback Hawkin Rasmussen often got the yardage to move the sticks, with Nixon Warren being the most common recipient.
Warren got involved in the scoring in the second quarter after Buck’s third and final touchdown as Rasmussen found him on back-to-back drives to push the halftime score to 35-7.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Fork defense was dominant. It forced five three-and-outs and one turnover in the first half. The offense went on to score on all but one of the ensuing drives.
“Our boys have just been absolutely flying around on defense and making plays,” Condie said. “We’ve caused lots of turnovers this year, and that’s been an emphasis with our team.”
Payson showed some life to open the second half by getting a stop on fourth down, and Justice Taylor found Carson Wall for the Lions’ second touchdown of the game.
However, a 70-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Warren, followed by a 50-yard pick-six from Grayson Zappe, put the game well out of reach.
For Spanish Fork, it was a nice change of pace from the past two weeks, when it was shut out by Orem and escaped with a win against Pleasant Grove.
“We’ve had a lot of those to-the-wire games this year, so before the game we were like, ‘Let’s go make a statement,’” Warren said. “We kind of played free. They came out, took a shot on us, but we took that and we came out and made our statement.”