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Timpview senior wide receiver Tei Nacua celebrates after the non-region game at Provo on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Provo and Timpview players prepare for the snap during the non-region game at Provo on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Spanish Fork's McKay Smith gets ready to launch a pass during a high school football game against Orem on Friday, August 25, 2023.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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A group of young boys runs out onto the field ahead of the Orem Tigers football team before a game against Spanish Fork on Friday, August 25, 2023.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Week 3 in Utah County prep football saw three teams take their first loss of the season while another two got their first wins. And of course, there were plenty of great individual performances.

The streak continues: As the final seconds ticked off the clock in Timpview’s 21-13 win over Provo, Timpview’s students serenaded Provo students with the cheer, “Maybe next year!”

It was four decades ago that Provo beat Timpview on the gridiron and now the Thunderbird winning streak is at 34 games.

It must be said that both teams look strong in their respective classifications. Timpview will be among the favorites in 5A as they are year in and year out, and the new environs of 4A should be favorable for the Bulldog program.

Many of the victories during the streak were blowouts so this is one of the rare Timpview victories where the margin of victory was in single digits. But even in this game, the Thunderbirds did seem in control holding a 21-0 lead going into the final stanza. Two late Provo scores made the final result more respectable.

Even with that said, Provo had some good moments. The Bulldogs moved the ball well, forced two early turnovers, and at halftime trailed just 7-0. However, the Bulldogs shot themselves in the foot with a lot of illegal procedure penalties, a missed field goal and poor clock management at the very end of the first half. And to beat a team that is likely to have superior talent, you can’t make those types of mistakes and expect to win.

The rivalry between the two Provo city schools is a bit bizarre. As far as a total athletic program, Timpview had held the edge, and in recent years Timpview’s athletic program has really flourished while Provo’s has generally struggled. Some sports like boys basketball have gone back and forth over the years, and in a couple of sports like baseball and wrestling, Provo has dominated in ways very similar to how Timpview has in football.

But here’s some interesting facts about the Provo and Timpview football rivalry:

• The last time Provo beat Timpview in varsity football was September 15, 1989. Think about that. George H.W. Bush was the President, Gloria Estefen had the top pop music hit with “Don’t Wanna Lose You”, and the original Batman movie starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker was the top movie.
• Provo has had 10 head coaches during that span including the return of Frank Henderson, who led Provo to its only state championship in football in 1982 and was the coach the last time Provo beat Timpview.
• But many other top coaches have patrolled the Bulldog sidelines. Current Lehi coach Ed Larson coached at Provo for two seasons. Tony McGeary, who led Lone Peak to its first state title, was the head coach for five seasons. And current coach Kirk Chambers led Spanish Fork to its only state title appearance in 2012. But none have been able, so far, to solve the riddle.
• Meanwhile, Timpview has had five head coaches over this span and oftentimes the transition from one head coach to the other has been a lot smoother. And in some cases, the former head coach has stayed on to aid in that transition. For example, Chad Van Orden stayed on to still call the offense when Louis Wong took over as the head coach, while former head coach Cary Whittingham is working as a defensive assistant for current head coach Don Atuaia. Interestingly enough, after his second stint as head coach at Provo High School, Henderson actually assisted in the program. Timpview’s staff this year also includes offensive coordinator Tyler Anderson, who was the head coach at Mountain View, Orem and Tooele, where at Tooele he led them to a state title.
• Once in a great while Provo arguably has the better team. In 1999, Provo was actually the last Utah County football program standing, making the 4A semifinals, while Timpview that year was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. But the Thunderbirds still managed to beat Provo 35-27 despite trailing early, 21-7.
• Sometimes the rivalry has had its ugly side. In the 2007 clash won by Timpview 63-0, Provo coaches and players refused to shake hands and coaches from both teams nearly came to blows. The genesis of it all was some hard feelings over sanctions Timpview was given over illegal recruiting where many of their coaches and the administration felt Provo High was responsible. During the actual game, Timpview showed no mercy kicking an onside kick and calling a timeout to try to score at the end of the first half leading 42-0.

New Provo School District superintendent enjoys game: Wendy Dau became the district’s eighth superintendent since the streak started. She wore a t-shirt that was green on one side and orange on the other to show her spirit while not showing any favoritism for one school over the other. And Dau found the packed stadium thrilling.

“It’s very exciting,” Dau said. “I hear they hate each other, actually the parents hate each other. But it’s been exciting. I interviewed students for each school (for a weekly segment). It’s just fun to see the energy between the kids, and we’re very excited about that.”

Road warriors: Because of school construction, Timpview will be on the road for most of the season. Last year, Timpview played its home games at Mountain View.

For 2023, Timpview has one scheduled home game vs. Wasatch on September 29 (which will be played at Provo High). The next stop for the Thunderbirds will be an out-of-state clash vs. Los Alamitos, California.

Wins and losses: After starting the season 0-2, Spanish Fork picked up a 44-38 double overtime victory against Orem at the Tiger Den.

Another Utah County team getting its first win was Mountain View. Trailing 15-13 with just over one minute remaining, Kalvin Floyd hauled in a pass by Sei Lesa to give the Bruins a 20-15 win.

Meanwhile, there will be no undefeated seasons for Maple Mountain, Provo and Springville.

Maple Mountain lost to county rival Salem Hills 24-17 while Provo fell at home to Timpview, 21-13. Crimson Cliffs beat Springville 28-7 in St. George.

The relatively easy win for the Mustangs is a bit surprising. It does show that some of the more traditional 4A powers aren’t exactly going to roll over in the expanded 4A classification.

Making the Trip to the Gem State: The third week of the season often sees a decent amount of Utah teams make the trip up to Idaho to play some of the Gem State powerhouse programs.

Lehi was one those teams and the Pioneers represented the Beehive State well, easily defeating Rigby, 45-13. Jett Niu tossed four touchdown passes, two to Kaleb Moore, while Gavin Fenn added a 38-yard field goal to pace the Pioneer attack.

Also making the trip up north was Wasatch who beat Madison 34-13 to pick up its first win of the season. Ashton Southam hit all four extra points and kicked two field goals for the Wasps.

Big Game of the Week No. 1: Salem Hills (2-1) will visit Provo (2-1) to open up the 4A Region 8 wars. Salem Hills has won two straight including a stirring win over county rival Maple Mountain. Even though Provo lost to Timpview 21-13, the Bulldogs should still feel confident playing at home, and with its recent successes against the Skyhawks. A win for either would be a great way to start league play.

Big Game of the Week No. 2: After last year’s historic season, Payson being 1-2 has to be a bit disappointing for its fans. But the Lions can get some forward momentum for the league season if they can beat Mountain View (1-2). The Bruins will hope to capitalize on their thrilling come-from-behind win over Cottonwood and will hope the Bruin Crazies can make an impact on their home field.

Big Game of the Week No. 3: Cedar Valley (2-1) hosts undefeated Ridgeline (3-0). The last time the Aviators played a team from 4A Region 11, they crashed and burned losing 31-7 to Bear River. Cedar Valley got a big 13-7 win over 6A Westlake last week but Ridgeline is a top-level 4A program that took state just two years ago. This contest will be a good barometer to see if Cedar Valley will be a contender or a pretender in the 5A gridiron wars.

Extra points: San Juan and Lehi extended their winning streaks to 28 and 22 games respectively. San Juan also has gone over 60 points in all three of its wins this season … Clearfield lost to Davis 55-0 so the misery continues for the Falcon faithful as the program lost its 23rd straight game…6A Region 3 is the SEC of Utah prep football. Four teams remain undefeated and the league sports a 14-4 overall record … Wasatch’s Carter Bucad is second in rushing yards in the state with 421 yards on 54 carries. Bucad also has six touchdowns … Springville’s Tevita Valeti is second in rushing touchdowns with 10 after being held without a touchdown in his team’s 28-7 loss to Crimson Cliffs … Summit Academy beat two 5A teams (Taylorsville and Skyline) in successive weeks but lost to 1A Duchesne last week, 29-25. Some of these 1A programs can flat out play ball …Something good is going on in Ogden City football as Ogden is 3-0 and Ben Lomond is 2-1. These two programs have suffered in futility for many years now with Ogden having just two winning seasons in the new millennium and Ben Lomond without any. Ogden has shut out all three of its opponents including a 55-0 triumph over Carbon this past week. Ben Lomond has won two straight including a 30-18 win over Mountain View … Other surprisingly good teams thus far have been Gunnison (3-0) in 1A, Providence Hall (2-1) in 2A, Richfield (3-0) in 3A with a strong 37-21 win over Payson last week, Green Canyon (3-0) in 4A, Box Elder (3-0) in 5A and Copper Hills (3-0) in 6A. Some of the more enigmatic programs have been Layton Christian (0-3) in 2A, North Sanpete (0-3) and Grantsville (0-3) in 3A, returning 4A champions Desert Hills (1-2) in 4A, Skyline (0-3) in 5A, along with Fremont (0-3) and Riverton (0-3) in 6A … Taking out-of-county vs. county match-ups, Utah County was 5-4 last week and now is 23-9 overall on the season.

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