Spanish Fork football scores late, shuts down top-seeded Ridgeline in 4A semifinals
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- Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson (left) celebrates scoring the game-winning TD during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson dives for the end zone to score the game-winning TD during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate after winning the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson celebrates scoring the game-winning TD during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate after winning the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate after winning the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Mckay Smith (right) celebrates with senior Ethan Smith after winning the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork fans celebrate a good play during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson runs the ball for the game-winning TD during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate with junior Gage Christensen (center) after he intercepted a pass during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork defenders make a tackle during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson runs the ball up the field during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Kaden Vest celebrates scoring a touchdown during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork junior Gage Christensen knocks down a pass during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork defenders make a tackle during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork sophomore Nixon Warren (10) goes up for a catch during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork sophomore Carter Coffey (26) breaks up a pass during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork players celebrate with junior Jacob Johnson (21) after he scored a TD during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Kaden Vest scores a touchdown during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork senior Kaden Vest runs the ball Spanish Fork XXXXX during the 4A semifinal game against Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
Spanish Fork senior Brock Jacobson stood in the backfield with 29 seconds to play in Thursday’s 4A semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
His No. 4-seeded Dons had stood toe-to-toe with top-seeded Ridgeline, battling to a 14-14 tie thanks to toughness, determination and a heroic second-half defensive effort.
Now Spanish Fork had a chance to throw the knockout blow.
The Dons had the ball at the RiverHawk 9-yard line and Jacobson was ready.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve, I’ve had the ball almost like every play,” Jacobson said. “So I just drive with the ball. I love having the ball. When it is game time, me and Kaden Vest say we’ve just got to go make plays.”
Jacobson took the ball in the Wildcat formation and started picking his way, looking for a hole.
“It’s supposed to run up the middle but it kind of got packed, so I just bounced it,” Jacobson said. “I’m just trying to hit it. I was going to the pylon, but I’m like, ‘I’m just going to go in.’ So I lowered the shoulder like (Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty) and get in there. I’m like, I’ve got to go win this thing.”
He had to fight for each yard, bowling a Ridgeline defender near the 2-yard line and then lunged for the stripe. When he came down, the ball was across the goal line.
“It was like all the workouts, all the sprints, all the lifts, everything just paid off in that one play,” Jacobson said.
That score put Spanish Fork up and turned out to be the game-winner as the Dons got the 21-14 upset — but there were still some tense moments left.
The talented RiverHawks got the ball at their own 28-yard line with 18 seconds to play, but a bad snap pinned them at their own 5-yard line with just four ticks remaining.
Even with Ridgeline needing to go 95 yards in one play, Spanish Fork head coach Dustin Smith knew the game wasn’t over.
“I usually don’t get super fired up after winning games,” Smith said. “I don’t run around and do a lot. I try to keep myself composed. I was nervous, because they’ve got enough guys on that team that can run that if one of them got loose, they could have scored.”
But although the RiverHawks lateraled the ball around four or five times, eventually one rolled to where a Don player could jump on it and Spanish Fork knew it was over.
“When I knew we had at it, I let loose,” Smith said. “I was running all over the field. I couldn’t help it. Spanish Fork doesn’t get to state championships very often, so it’s a big deal for our city and for these boys who have worked so hard. We don’t have a lot of players on this team but we use every single guy on this team to win these games. They all played up well today.”
He particularly gave credit to his defense, which kept the potent Ridgeline offense to just 14 points and held them scoreless in the second half.
“It was the scheme by our coaches, who put a lot of time into preparing,” Smith said. “It was just the no quit in our defensive line, our linebackers and our secondary. All three of those groups won this one for us.”
Jacobson, who is a defensive back for the Dons as well as playing in Wildcat situations on offense, said the key was being ready and playing with heart.
“We watched a ton of film this week, breaking down checks and different formations” Jacobson said. “Graham Livinston and Beck Huntsman for them are great players, so we knew we had to take away their game especially. We also knew we had to have relentless effort, fly to the ball, wrap up and just want it bad. You’ve got to want it bad in these games to win because it’s still so close.”
In the end, though, Spanish Fork got the job done. Jacobson said when that final whistle blew, it was an emotional moment.
“I just felt a deep joy, like I almost wanted to start crying because it was with my brothers,” Jacobson said. “We’ve been playing together since fourth grade and, man, we want it so bad. We deserved to have that win. So I’m like, we did it now. Now we’ve got the next game. But it was about just getting to celebrate that moment, which was just really fun with our team.”
The Dons now advance to play in the 4A state title game, which will take place at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
