Taking a page from his father and former NFL running back, Fahu Tahi, Lincoln was the very definition of a workhorse in the win, carrying the football 28 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns while adding 13 receptions for 85 yards.

But none of his 41 touches will be as memorable as his last one when he took a handoff off-tackle and galloped 16 yards into the endzone in the second overtime period to cap off his team’s big win. The Falcon’s sideline went wild, as did many of the home team’s fans who rushed the field to celebrate the thrilling win over one of their top Region 3 foes.

“I feel kind of speechless right now, but it felt amazing,” Lincoln Tahi said of scoring the game-winning touchdown. “The credit goes to my O-line. They were blocking great out there and they didn’t give up on me.”

Skyridge Coach Justin Hemm opted to lean on Lincoln Tahi tremendously throughout most of the game, and particularly during the second half, along with quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne, who finished with 20 carries and 81 yards on top of 231 yards passing.

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

“At the end of the day, the play call is irrelevant. It’s the kids and their talent and execution, and the ability of the kids,” Hemm said. “When you have guys like Kaneal and Lincoln, and how our offensive line played, and some of the perimeter guys we got…It’s fun to watch these guys play.”

Both Hemm and Lincoln Tahi mentioned the work of the Falcon offensive line after just about every question posed in postgame interviews, readily recognizing the group as being the catalyst for whatever gains were made on the offensive end.

“Offensive line got better and better, and more confident as the game went on,” Hemm said. “We have some young guys up there and how they responded throughout this game was huge. We’ve been looking at these guys to take a step and…We put it behind those guys and they did a great job executing.”

The steady strides made by Hemm’s offensive line, and indeed the entire offense in general, worked in stark contrast to what they set forth during the game’s first 24 minutes. Despite maintaining solid possession, mistakes, turnovers and missed field goals conspired to hold the Falcons going into the half as the Knights built a 10-0 lead.

It all changed in the second half, considerably, with Skyridge putting 24 points on the board in second half regulation, and then 13 more in the double-overtime period.

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

“I don’t know if too much changed,” Hemm said of his team’s second half offensive surge. “We just finished drives. You look at the first half and we ran 44 plays and had 17 minutes of possession, so we were doing good things. We just shot ourselves in the foot…But we were able to settle down, complete assignments and put drives into the endzone.”

Leading off the second half scoring for Skyridge was Davis Fyans, hauling in a 36-yard toss from Sweetwyne with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. Just over three minutes later saw Falcon’s kicker Crew Odom boot through a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-10.

From there the two teams battled back and forth with Lone Peak highlights including Jaron Pula hauling in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cruz Christensen and Isaac Fonua finding a seam to return a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Skyridge’s response included a 5-yard run from Lincoln Tahi for a touchdown and Sweetwyne finding Diesel Hunter from five yards out for another score.

Sweetwyne led off the overtime scoring with a 1-yard plunge into the endzone before Lone Peak responded with a 6-yard touchdown run from Sean Tahi. After Skyridge held Lone Peak to a field goal to lead off the second overtime, the offense took advantage open window provided and capped off the win with Lincoln Tahi’s aforementioned game-winning touchdown run.

“Lone Peak is a very tough team and very physical, but we kept our heads up and we fought,” Lincoln Tahi said. “We kept fighting back and it’s a blessing to win that game.”

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

With the win Skyridge improves to 6-2 overall on the season amidst a brutal stretch of games which included games against defending 6A State champion Corner Canyon and traveling to take on Colorado prep powerhouse Cherry Creek.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Hemm said. “This five week stretch has been a grind. We went out-of-state two weeks in a row…and then playing Lehi on a Thursday, and then Corner (Canyon), and our boys have accepted the challenge. Last week didn’t go right, but I’m very proud of how we responded this week.”

Skyridge will finish off the regular season in two weeks with a game at American Fork following a much-deserved bye week. Lone Peak, which fell to 5-3 on the season with the loss, will look to rebound with a game against Lehi.

Skyridge receiver Davis Fyans celebrates his touchdown reception in his team's 37-34 overtime win over Lone Peak

Lone Peak quarterback Cruz Christensen attempts a pass in his team's 37-34 loss to Skyridge

Lone Peak receiver Jaron Pula celebrates a touchdown in the Knight's 37-34 loss to the Falcons on Thursday

Skyridge approaches the goaline in its 37-34 overtime win over Lone Peak

Skyridge running back Lincoln Tahi celebrates a touchdown with his teammates

Skyridge running back Lincoln Tahi after his game-winning touchdown run in his team's 37-34 overtime win over Lone Peak

Skyridge running back Lincoln Tahi after the Falcon's thrilling 37-34 overtime win over Lone Peak

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