American Fork needed a little bit of luck and a late fourth down stop to get past Orem.

Hey, football teams make their own luck, right?

The Cavemen rallied for a 24-20 victory on Friday night, turning the Tigers away on four plays near the goal line in the game’s final minutes to hang on for the win.

“What I like most about this team is we just want it more than any team in the state,” AF senior linebacker Tyson Eggett said. “I think it shows that we’ve got grit on fourth and goal. We’ll fire off as hard as we can and get a stop. So I suppose that we’ve got greatness.”

Kaue Akana scampered 33 yards to the American Fork 6-yard line with 3:59 to play, setting up Orem with first-and-goal at the six. The Tigers reached the 1-yard line but on third down, backup quarterback Asher Young fumbled a handoff attempt. That brought up fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line. The Tigers lined up in a heavy formation but fumbled the snap and the Cavemen had held with 2:18 remaining.

“We fired off on the ball and I guess the best thing possible happened,” Eggett said. “We hit the center a bit and the new quarterback fumbled. I think it was just everyone doing their job and just getting to the football.”

AF took possession and was backed up near its own goal line, but Jacob Eardley converted a third-and-3 with a 10-yard run to clinch the win.

“Orem has got athletes out on the edge and in the backfield,” AF coach Aaron Behm said. “We made just enough plays but hats off to Orem. They played great. They battled and thankfully we were able to come out with a win.”

As for the bit of good luck, American Fork dodged some bullets, especially in the second half. Trailing 17-13 at the break, Orem dominated the third quarter on both sides of the ball. Three times the Tigers drove into Caveman territory and came up empty. Two field goal attempts by Akana missed, one deflecting off the upright and another bouncing off the crossbar. Orem also fumbled on a third drive, Carsen Harmon pouncing on the loose ball for AF.

Young, who usually plays wide receiver for the Tigers and had a spectacular catch for score in the first half, was called upon late in the third quarter to replace injured starting quarterback Lance Reynolds III, who had thrown a pair of touchdown passes. Young was dynamic as a runner and a passer and led Orem on a go-ahead scoring drive. He connected with Roger Saleapaga on a 45-yard pass near the end of the third quarter, then converted a fourth-and-8 on a screen pass to Mack Hixson. Young found Taivel Ryans on a 4-yard touchdown pass and Akana’s extra point gave the Tigers a 20-17 lead with 10:26 to play in the game.

The American Fork offense finally woke up and had two huge third down conversions, both on passes from Dylan Story to Eardley, to reach the Orem 5. On third down, Story was hit as he threw toward the end zone but tight end Josh Andrus tracked down the wobbler for a touchdown and a 24-20 Caveman lead with 6:20 remaining.

After the game, Story confirmed that he wasn’t throwing the ball to Andrus.

But luck was on American Fork’s side.

“Dylan is just a calming presence back there,” Behm said. “He doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low. He’s still growing. He’s still learning how to be a starting quarterback but he made some big throws tonight.”

American Fork (2-0) will travel to play at West next Friday.

“We have a lot of confidence in our defense,” Behm said. “They knew they shouldn’t even have allowed Orem inside the red zone and so they wanted that last stop really bad. I think they had a good feeling heading into the fourth down.

“I love this team’s leadership. They show up to practice every day with energy ready to get better. As long as they keep that attitude they’ve have a really high ceiling this season.”

Orem (1-1) will host Spanish Fork next Friday.