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Springville senior Kinikinilau Fonohema looks to avoid a block during a non-region game against Dixie in Springville on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.

Marcia Harris, Special to the Herald

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Timpview football captains (from left) Haven Halladay, Isaiah Vaea, Paka Haunga and Tei Nacua walk onto the field for the coin toss before a game against Skyridge on Friday, August 11, 2023.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Maple Mountain senior Tetsuo Yshii scores a touchdown during the non-region game against Payson in Spanish Fork on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.

Jeff Porcaro, Maple Mountain Sports

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Lone Peak's Josh Empey (95) chases down Bingham quarterback Anthony Salazar during the first high school football game of the season in Highland on Thursday, August 10, 2023.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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If you think the second week of August seems early to start a high school football season, well it’s because Utah is the first state to begin prep football play. And Utah’s very first game on Thursday August 10 pitted two 6A rivals Bingham at Lone Peak with Lone Peak coming away with a resounding 27-7 victory.

It was a bit of revenge and redemption for the Knights as Bingham put them out of the 6A state tournament last season in the quarterfinals.

Jackson Blake had three touchdown passes with two of them covering quite a bit of the gridiron. Jasean Mayberry and Brooks Wilde hauled in passes of 77 and 61 yards respectively as the Knights showed their ability to explode on their opponents.

But the Knights, known for their stellar defenses over the years, also sparkled, holding the Miners to just seven points, and none in the second half.

Then Friday, the prep football season was in full force with nearly 50 contests across the state. All 18 Utah County football teams took the field in week one and the results were generally good.

Region 3 dominates Davis County: Four Utah County teams, all from Region 3, actually traveled to Davis County and picked up wins.

One victory of note was Pleasant Grove’s road shutout of Farmington. The only thing that went bad for the Vikings was their inability to score on their point after attempts. Pleasant Grove easily secured the 18-0 win against the Phoenix. The Vikings showed they will be no pushover in the 6A and Region 3 gridiron wars. Carson Rasmussen ran for a touchdown and passed for another.

Lehi defeated Davis 28-14 to extend its winning streak to 19 games after trailing 7-6 at half. Isaiah Allen had a 52-yard fumble return to give Lehi its first score of the 2023 season.

American Fork took care of business in an impressive 42-14 win over Roy. Dylan Story threw four touchdown passes, two of which went to Davis Andrews, while Jacob Eardley had two touchdown runs.

Thunder gambled and went for two: Westlake’s new head coach Arnold Ale rolled the dice and it came up eight, as in a touchdown and two-point conversion to beat Weber 22-21 in overtime. That made it a complete sweep for Region 3 against Davis County schools.

The two teams were tied 14-14 after four quarters of play. Weber scored first in the overtime and kicked the extra point to go ahead 21-14. But that’s when Derek Anderson provided the heroics. First, he connected with Mason Jenkins for a 10-yard score and then the Thunder quarterback ran in the two-point conversion to give Westlake the hard-fought win on the road.

Ale coached Payson last year to its first winning season since 1978 and perhaps he can bring some winning magic to the Thunder program which has generally struggled being in a region with the likes of American Fork, Corner Canyon, Lone Peak, Pleasant Grove and Skyridge.

Timpanogos scores 62 points in rout of Jordan: The Timberwolves scored early and often to crush Jordan 62-30. The 62 points Timpanogos tallied was the second highest point total in week one. San Juan scored a state-high 66 points as it beat Layton Christian 66-43 in a shootout.

Timberwolf quarterback Luke Livingston ran for three scores and tossed for another while teammate Easton Bretzing scored Timpanogos’ first two touchdowns via a 14-yard pass from Livingston and a one-yard plunge. Bretzing added another one-yard score to complete the Timberwolve scoring barrage.

Skyridge wins televised game with Timpview: The big game of the week featured on Friday Night Rivals between Skyridge and Timpview didn’t disappoint. The returning 5A runner-ups actually led the 6A returning state champions 14-13 at halftime, but Skyridge scored 13 second half points and the Falcon defense posted the shutout to give Justin Hemm a victory in his head coaching debut. Jackson Stevens, who was the signal caller for Davis last year and threw for over 3,000 yards, had two touchdown passes in his first game in the Skyridge program.

Maple Mountain’s Kalin Hall wins in head coaching debut: In a battle of first-year coaches, Maple Mountain and Kalin Hall defeated Payson, and Brian Wall, 34-21.

The score was tied midway through the third quarter before Maple Mountain finished off the Lions with a pick six by Michael Knudsen and two field goals by Fernando Banuelos including a 42 yarder. Golden Eagle quarterback Banks Jacobsen tossed two touchdown passes to Easton Merrell and had a long 74-yard touchdown run called back because of a personal foul penalty. His long run still set up Banuelos’ go-ahead field goal. Payden Sorensen had two scores for Payson.

Orem rallies to beat East in Lance Reynolds Jr.’s first game as Tiger head coach: Trailing 14-0 at half, Orem rallied to score the next 21 points and held off East to win, 21-20. Lance Reynolds Jr. got a victory in his head coaching debut and his son Lance Reynolds III had a touchdown pass to get the Tigers on the scoreboard to spark the comeback.

Who Needs a Shoe?: Springville senior Tevita Valeti picked up where he left off last year. The Red Devil running back led the state in touchdowns last season and already has five in 2023. He tallied an eye-popping 185 yards on 26 carries as Springville demolished Dixie, 34-7. Nothing stopped Valeti, not even losing a shoe, as he still ran past and through Flyer defenders on a touchdown scamper. Dixie’s only score came via a kick-off return as the Red Devil defense again looks stout.

ALA falls short in Lance Burrell’s coaching debut: Lance Burrell made his coaching debut for ALA but Gunnison beat the Eagles 42-28. Kannon Huntsman scored three touchdowns for the Eagles in the losing cause.

Provo dominates while Cedar Valley, Mountain View, Spanish Fork and Salem Hills lose: Provo blitzed the returning 3A runner-up Grantsville scoring 34 points in the first half on way to a 41-0 win over the Cowboys. Saia Hifo had two TD runs, while Soakai Ashton threw for two scores and ran another to lead the Bulldog attack.

Things didn’t go so well for Spanish Fork as the Dons were crushed at home by Olympus 28-7. Meanwhile, Salem Hills dropped a home tilt against Sky View 44-20 and Cedar Valley was soundly defeated at 4A Bear River, 31-7. In a Battle of Views, Canyon View outscored Mountain View, 57-29.

Week 2 Big Game of the Week No. 1: Timpview (0-1) will travel to Lone Peak (1-0) to take on the Knights. Not only does this contest promise to be a hard-hitting battle of strong defenses, the contest will serve as an important barometer to see where Lone Peak stands as a 6A contender. Judging by Skyridge’s hard-fought victory over the Thunderbirds on Friday, a Lone Peak win bodes well for the Knights.

Big Game of the Week No. 2: Maple Mountain (1-0) will hope to validate its strong 34-21 win over Payson with a win against Spanish Fork (0-1), The Dons struggled in their opener against Olympus just scoring seven points. Spanish Fork has dominated the rivalry against Maple Mountain in recent years but the Golden Eagles, at home, will certainly want to turn the tables and show they won’t be a pushover in the new 5A Region 7.

Big Game of the Week No. 3: Orem (1-0) squeaked past East 21-20 last week but will now face a much stiffer test going on the road to play American Fork (1-0). Orem has been a dominant program in 4A/5A for the past several years but has failed to get that signature win against a top 6A team.

Extra Points: Springville’s Tevita Valeti and San Juan’s Zack Conway scored five touchdowns to take the early lead in scoring. Valeti also leads the state in rushing with 185 yards while Woods Cross’ Cash Henderson is next with 166. Both Valeti and Henderson are outstanding wrestlers. Henderson won the 5A state title at 215 pounds while Valeti placed third in the same weight class … Some of these 1A teams can really play ball. Duchesne went into Vernal and scored a 20-18 win over 4A Uintah. Meanwhile, Beaver slapped around 2A South Summit, expected to be one of the top 2A teams, 33-14 … The most shocking win in week one perhaps was 2A Summit Academy beating 5A Taylorsville, 24-21 … Pleasant Grove and Provo were two of eight teams to post shutouts. The others were Delta, Green Canyon, Mountain Crest, Northridge, Ogden and Syracuse. Two of the teams shut out were Cottonwood and Murray from 4A Region 10 … While Lehi has the county’s longest winning streak at 19 games, 2A San Juan has the longest winning streak at 26 games … One long winning streak went by the wayside when returning 3A state champion Morgan, with its 13-game winning streak, lost at last year’s 4A runner-up Crimson Cliffs, 35-13 … Region 3 went 6-0 in its games and taking out the Payson vs. Maple Mountain and Timpview vs. Skyridge games where two county teams played each other, Utah County schools went 9-5 in week one.

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