Tigers triumph: Orem punches its ticket to the 5A state championship with a 34-7 win over West
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- Orem’s Oliver Bills (9) carries the ball against West in the 5A football state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Aisa Galea’i carries the ball against West in the 5A football state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Mack Ellison (3) tracks the football as he tries to escape a West defender in the 5A state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Easton Kojima (in white) breaks away from a West tackler in the 5A football state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- West gang tackles an Orem ball carrier in the 5A football state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Jagg Ione (8) reaches to tackle West quarterback Kamden Lopati in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem quarterback Tayden Ka’awa throws a pass while under pressure from West defensive end Takeshi Savery in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem linebacker Easton Kojima (44) moves in to make a tackle against West in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Max Stonebraker (18) makes a catch while Jaxon Toala (10) and Takeshi Savery of West make the tackle in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem quarterback Tayden Ka’awa (11) escapes the West pass rush in a 5A football state semifinal game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem running back Beckham Curtis carries the ball against West in a 5A football state football semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem’s Aisa Galea’i (1) carries the ball against West in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- West defensive back Manu Tua’one (21) tackles Orem’s Kaue Akana in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem defensive players bring down West wide receiver Lester Falatea in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem students react during a 5A football state semifinal against West at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
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- Orem receiver Kaue Akana makes a touchdown catch against West in a 5A football state semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
An immensely-talented and disrespected team can prove dangerous, and Orem football certainly proved as much on Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, trouncing No. 1 seed West 34-7 in 5A state semifinal action.
Orem entering state championship play after being assigned the No. 4 seed, a fact that was very much at the forefront of the player’s mind as they took the field on Thursday and for just about every minute leading up to that moment.
“We came out here with a fire in our hearts,” said Orem lineman and BYU commit Lopeti Moala. “We knew we deserved the No. 1 seed and we wanted to come out here and prove to everyone in the state of that fact.”
It’s hard to argue against the case the Tigers put forth in the win, as it were.
From the outset the Tigers rolled, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive first quarter possessions to build a commanding 20-0 lead and never looked back.
Leading off the scoring was Aisea Galeai with a 45-yard gallop into the endzone for a quick 6-0 lead at the 9:33 mark of the first quarter. About three minutes later saw Easton Kojima plunge across the goaline from 2 yards out before Kaue Akana topped off the first quarter barrage with a 32 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Tayden Ka’awa.
In between all of it were consecutive three-and-out possessions procured by the Tiger defense which employed dominant line play from start to finish.
“We did our thing,” Moala said. “We knew that they were going to try and run away from me, and we just told our guys to handle their business, and that’s what we did. All week we got ready for that.”
“We have the best lines in the state, and having them makes my job so easy,” Akana, who plays cornerback and receiver added. “I almost never have to cover guys for more than two seconds because our guys are getting in there so quick. So all the credit goes to the boys upfront.”
West proved more formidable in the second quarter, and managed to hold Orem scoreless, but were unable to put up any points and ended the first half with only 45 total yards to the Tiger’s 147.
For Orem Coach Lance Reynolds, he came approached Thursday’s game a little wary of what West would present, but confident of his own players could provide, which ultimately proved overwhelming almost immediately.
“There’s a lot of good teams in this state, but I said going into this that I’m not sure how good a lot of these defenses are who they played,” Reynolds said. “…But I do know that our defense is legit and I think it spoke for itself on the field today.”
As a whole, Orem’s defense wrecked all sorts of havoc, accounting for 15 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks in the win with multiple players making strong contributions, as is often the case on both sides of the football. As for that other side of the ball, Orem’s offense was led by Galeai’s 77 yards rushing on just five carries and Akana’s five receptions for 105 yards.
“We’ve got guys all over the place,” Reynolds said. “…But that’s the thing about us when you look at us on paper. We never get the weekly MVPs…because we distribute the ball so well that nobody sees stats that are just blowing the doors off. But that’s also a really big problem for (opposing) teams.”
As always, Moala was central to Orem’s dominating play, but this time got into the offensive flow, snagging a two-yard touchdown toss from Ka’awa to lead off the second half scoring. While Moala is very fond of sacking quarterbacks, when asked if he preferred catching touchdown passes, he thought a bit before opting for the scoring opportunity, at least in Thursday’s win.
“I liked the touchdown and I think I’m going to have to run some more routes,” Moala said while wearing a big grin.
The second half was relatively unremarkable with West managing a touchdown late in the third quarter which was answered midway through the fourth quarter by Orem in the form of Max Stonebreaker’s 14-yard touchdown run for the 34-7 final.
“Give it to West. That’s a good football team,” Reynolds said. “They were struggling with some injuries and some banged up guys. That’s a good football team, but I was just proud of our guys for playing at the end and all the way through.”
Overall the game featured crisp execution and dominating play from every position group by the Tigers, which worked in stark contrast to where they were midway through the season, specifically during a frustrating 17-14 win over Springville back in early September. According to Reynolds, the game versus the Red Devils led to frustrations boiling over, but then a very positive response from everyone involved thereafter.
“That was kind of our turning point,” Reynolds said. “That’s when our kids said, ‘Coach, we’re going to stop just listening to you and then have it go out the other ear. We’re going to hear it and do the little things that are going to make us go from a good team to an incredible team,’ and I really think we’ve made a step toward that. Are we perfect? Far from it, but we’re making a lot of strides.”
Helping leading the way is Akana, who is one of the Tiger’s standout seniors who has taken it upon himself to provide strong leadership during his team’s surge toward the 5A state championship game.
“Everyone is just feeling more confident and we’re playing together a lot better than we did at the first of the season,” Akana said. “We’re playing as brothers out there on the field now. We had a lot of new guys coming in, but we’re meshing now and it’s really clicking.”
NO. 4 OREM 34, NO. 1 WEST 7
Orem 20 0 7 7 – 34
West 0 0 7 0 – 7
O-Aisa Galea’i 45 run (pass failed)
O-Easton Kojima 2 run (Ben Bradley kick)
O-Kaue Akana 32 pass from Tayden Ka’awa (Bradley kick)
O-Juni Moala 2 pass from Ka’awa (Bradley kick)
W-Junior Dixon 3 pass from Kamden Lopati (Freddy Coronado kick)
O-Max Stonebraker 14 run (Bradley kick)
