Cold and rainy conditions like what Spanish Fork and Pleasant Grove had to play through on Friday night usually favor the defenses.
Surprisingly though, Pleasant Grove’s offense was unfazed by the wet weather, which ultimately paved the way for some sweet redemption for the Vikings.
After narrowly losing to Spanish Fork back in Week 6, No. 10 seed Pleasant Grove used a strong second quarter in the 5A first round rematch to pull away from the seventh-seeded Dons for the impressive 34-10 victory.
“I think the guys battled hard tonight. I think they were hungry. I think they were ready to go, but it always comes down to execution,” said Pleasant Grove coach Jeremy Lapan.
“I thought our guys executed at a high level, made the catches. Offensive line blocked phenomenally. The O-line doesn’t get enough credit. They’ve developed so much.”
That strong offensive line play allowed quarterback Cannon Jacobson to pass for two touchdowns, while Corbin Robbins tallied a rushing and a receiving TD in the victory.
With the victory, Pleasant Grove advances to next week’s 5A quarterfinals against No. 2 seed and defending state champ Orem.
It’s a rematch of Orem’s 35-10 win over Pleasant Grove back in Week 8.
“Hopefully we can come ready to play. That’s a really good football team,” said Lapan. “Hopefully we can show that we’ve developed a little bit and got better.”
While Spanish Fork’s offense clearly struggled with consistency in the difficult conditions Friday, Lapan said he didn’t make any adjustments to his play calling, believing his team prepared for the conditions as best it could with hand warmers, towels and ponchos.
Lapan said he called five trick plays during the game, but was immediately prepared to audible out of those calls if he could sense the players were nervous about ball security.
He could see in their eyes they never were.
“We probably spent $1,000 on hand warmers and ponchos and towels to keep those balls dry. In these conditions, it is a huge deal to keep your hands warm and to keep the ball dry,” said Lapan.
With Pleasant Grove leading 6-3 midway through the second quarter after both offenses settled for early field goals, the Vikings found their rhythm offensively late in the frame.
Robbins scored on a 5-yard run with 4:50 left in the first half, pushing the lead to 13-3, and then with 10 seconds left in the half he scored again on a 8-yard TD pass from Jacobson for the 20-3 halftime lead.
After both offenses stalled on their opening drives of the third quarter, Spanish Fork put together its best drive of the game as quarterback Nixon Warren capped an 80-yard scoring drive with a 4-yard sweep just inside the pylon, cutting the deficit to 20-10 with 1:27 left in the third.
Spanish Fork’s defense responded with its own huge play on Pleasant Grove’s next possession as linebacker Tayvin Maldonado intercepted a pass near midfield to add even more life to the Dons’ sideline.
It was very short-lived momentum though, as Pleasant Grove’s defense recorded two tackles for loss and forced a quick three and out.
“Absolutely massive. Guys were doing their jobs, and again, against a guy like Nixon, if one guy is out of their gap and we’re trying to do something too much, he’s going to the house, so great discipline by our guys,” said Lapan.
Following the stop, the Vikings marched down field and put the game out of reach at 27-10 on Ryder Huntsman’s two-yard TD reception from Jacobson with 5:38 left in the game.
Vikings receiver Tavake Wolfgramm kept the drive alive a few plays later on an acrobatic 25-yard fourth-down catch down inside the five that is worthy of some catch-of-the buzz and defensive back Davian Akwenye put the punctuation mark on the win over a interception return for touchdown in the final 90 seconds.
Lapan is hoping the good vibes continue throughout next week in leading up to the big matchup with 5A favorite Orem.
“There’s a lot of buy-in as far as like loving each other,” said Lapan. “I think the players are pretty connected with one another. Just a lot of them grew up in the PG area, and youth and stuff, and it’s pretty exciting to see. These guys have been playing football for 10 years together.”