RIVERTON -- Donny Lewis has no fear of the cold, or lack of confidence. Even in the bitter cold, he'll show off his mohawk.

The Pleasant Grove backup quarterback, who was part of two consecutive losses, returned to the field after halftime Friday because of Dallas Lloyd's freshly suffered ankle injury and wound up picking a really nice time to get a win -- on the road, no less.

The Vikings won at Riverton in the first round of the 5A state tournament, 36-21, as P.G. scored all 16 second-half points. Lewis threw a late, long fourth-down touchdown pass to seal it. He did a fine job all evening, really, getting a key first-half interception in his role as a defensive back and also moving the ball effectively when given a chance. He had good help on both sides of the ball, as well.

"It was a work in progress from losing the previous two games," PG coach Dale Sampson said. "Obviously, Riverton gave us all we wanted in the first half and more...I think our adjustments at halftime helped us."

PG lost tough games the previous two weeks, against Lone Peak and Alta in region play, with Lewis under center because of Dallas Lloyd's separated shoulder. Lewis took over again when the highly recruited Lloyd came up gimpy on the final play of the first half.

Trailing 21-20, with the ball 20 yards away from the end zone, there was a botched snap that Lloyd nearly turned into six points with his feet.

But he was taken down hard at the 2, and he limped off the field.

Lewis appeared to be in a tight spot. Not so, says a valuable teammate.

"It's no different, Dallas or Donny. It's all good. No worries," running back Jeff Harris said.

With a rusher like Harris, who had 211 yards and a couple of touchdowns on 21 attempts, who would have any concern?

Harris and Lewis have been football friends since pee-wee level, and they teamed up for the most important drive shortly after halftime.

The PG defense stood strong at the 5-yard line, giving the ball back to the offense.

Pinned deep, Harris opened space quickly for a first down. With the ball at the 27, he scooted 69 yards by taking advantage of a couple of terrific blocks upon the snap to Lewis. He quickly added a 10-yard touchdown run.

"That was a great drive....I think that was key," Sampson said. "We talked about that at halftime. We needed to have an old-fashioned Pleasant Grove drive. I think that one kind of broke their back."

The counter play countered the one-point deficit, indeed for good. Even though the ensuing two-point conversion failed, every aspect of the Vikings' game was working.

The defense harassed Riverton into a pair of key first-half interceptions. D.J. Doman returned one 44 yards for a touchdown that tied the score at 14.

Lewis helped his team on defense, as well, by intercepting a pass about a minute after Doman's play. Combined with a personal foul against Riverton, Lloyd needed just one play and nine yards -- a handoff to Harris -- to take a 20-14 lead (the kick was blocked as well, continuing a disturbing trend from last week's loss to Alta in which the Vikings failed to convert on special teams points).

Riverton drove 60 yards to re-take the lead, and Lloyd nearly kept the back-and-forth trend with an unlikely drive right before halftime.

An interception turned into a questionable pass-interference call that not only let PG keep possession, but also awarded it advancement close to mid-field.

The Vikings reached the 15-yard line, before a delay-of-game call with eight seconds. The next play's snap was a fiasco, but Lloyd tucked and ran -- and nearly made it in.

His once-separated shoulder never looked fully ready (the cold weather may have played a part in that) but it set up Lewis for a chance to notch a big win.

Yes, the kid is confident. It showed, leading by eight points with five minutes left, when he delivered a 25-yard scoring strike to Doman on fourth-and-4.

"We lost the last two weeks and we talked all week at practice about having a 180-degree turnaround," he said. "We got that huge stop on defense early in the third quarter, and after that everyone was fired up. Everyone wanted to do their job after that, and we got it done."