1 / 2

Maple Mountain's KJ Hall (7) runs into the end zone for a touchdown in the first quarter (Dorothy Knoell)

2 / 2

After Week 5's three-point reality check to Timpview, some wondered if Maple Mountain would come down to earth.

 

Instead, the Golden Eagles (4-2, 3-1 Region 8) went right back to the wins column, pulling out a 14-10 win over Mountain View. Quarterback KJ Hall continues to throw defenses off with his pass-run option while Just Slavens, Nik Mafi and Cameron Carson give the them multiple options on the ground.

 

Orem is the only above-.500 team left on Maple Mountain's schedule, giving the them a golden chance at favorable postseason positioning.

Photo by Dorothy Knell

❮ ❯

In a sloppy contest filled with mental mistakes and errors, Maple Mountain pulled out a narrow 14-10 victory over Mountain View in Orem on Friday.

Justin Slavens’s 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles (4-2, 3-1 Region 8) the lead for good. But turnovers were the dominating factor and the teams didn’t waste any time getting started on handing out freebies. Only minutes into the game, Maple Mountain coughed up a fumble and setting Mountain View (2-3, 1-2) up in scoring position.

As par for the course, the Bruins missed a 37-yard field goal turning the ball back over to the Golden Eagles. Unfortunately for Maple Mountain, it could not capitalize on mental mistakes by the Bruins early in the game, giving up an interception and two fumbles of its own in the first half.

Late in the first quarter, Maple Mountain put together an impressive drive highlighted by a 17-yard run by Nik Mafi, followed by an 18-yard touchdown run by quarterback KJ Hall.

“What can I say,” said Mountain View coach Jon Snyder. “That KJ Hall is a stud. He is just so doggone fast.”

Mountain View showed poise in overcoming so many self-inflicted wounds throughout the whole game. The Bruins were picked off once, fumbled twice, turned the ball over on downs twice and missed two field goals.

Mountain View did more than make a game of it, though, as the Bruins scored 10 straight points on a 26-yard field goal and a 10-yard touchdown run on a QB keeper by Jacob Bingham. The Bruins held that lead until Slavens’ score gave Maple Mountain the lead back.

Mistakes reared their ugly head, however, afterward as Mountain View quarterback Jacob Bingham threw an interception and the Bruins turned the ball over on downs once again.

“We made things harder on ourselves than we needed to,” Snyder said. “It’s hard to win a game with so many mistakes. We had turnovers, penalties and anything and everything else you can think of.”

Despite all the turnovers, penalties and mistakes, the Bruins were in it until the final play.

With possession of the ball with just over two minutes to play, Maple Mountain ran three straight plays before running out the clock on the final play — a fourth-and-18 — as the Golden Knights’ punter ran around with the ball until the clock reached double zeroes.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Snyder said. “They played tough through all the mistakes and we were right there until the end.”

Mountain View takes on Timpanogos in an inter-city challenge next Friday while Maple Mountain visits Provo.