Two valley teams lost heartbreakers in overtime, one to a fellow Utah County rival. And for another county program, a Cinderella Story came to an end.

There were also plenty of amazing individual performances.

Here’s a look back at all the storylines from the quarterfinals:

Skyridge wins the rematch against Pleasant Grove: Two times these teams locked horns in the 2023 season and both times four quarters of football weren’t enough to decide the outcome.

This game had plenty of drama and plenty of momentum swings. There were three defensive scores. One was a 59-yard pick six by Skyridge’s Noah Bird, which was followed by a 33-yard scoop-and-score by Pleasant Grove’s Shawn Cottle. Pleasant Grove also scored via a safety in the second quarter.

Bird’s interception return for a touchdown was absolutely critical as Pleasant Grove had dominated the first half and led 23-7 at the time. Bird crossed the goal line with just three ticks remaining in the first half trimming the Viking lead to 23-13.

Cottle’s fumble return for a score were Pleasant Grove’s last points in the game and then Skyridge responded by scoring the game’s next 24 points to pull off the improbable comeback.

The first meeting between the two teams went into overtime but the game had a much different tenor. In this contest Skyridge led 20-7 going into the final stanza, but the Vikings scored 21 fourth quarter points to Skyridge’s eight to tie the score at 28-28 in regulation.

In both overtimes, Pleasant Grove won the toss and went on defense first. In the first contest, Skyridge did score on a field goal but the Vikings won it on a touchdown. But in the quarterfinal match-up Skyridge put the pressure on the Vikings by scoring a touchdown, a 5-yard run by Carter Sheffield. Pleasant Grove couldn’t answer and Skyridge was able to advance.

It is truly a shame that one of these teams had to lose. Skyridge will now get a chance to avenge its other loss in the regular season when it plays American Fork in the 6A semifinals. The tale of the tape on this match-up to come later.

Bountiful’s gamble pays off to defeat Springville in overtime: After four quarters of play nothing was decided in this 5A quarterfinal match-up between No. 10 seed Bountiful (8-4) and No. 2 seed Springville (9-3).

With the score tied at 28-28, Bountiful won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. Springville scored quite easily in five plays when Tevita Valeti ran it in for his third touchdown of the game, and it probably impacted Bountful’s decision on what to do when it scored its own touchdown. This game had a similar feeling to a very famous college game staged nearly two decades ago.

In the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State and Oklahoma staged a classic. Boise State led early and then the Sooners stormed back. Oklahoma had a future NFL Hall of Fame running back in Adrian Peterson, who had truly hit his stride. It seemed like Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t going to be stopped and the Sooners scored easily when they had the ball in their first possession in overtime.

Boise State then answered and then their head coach Chris Petersen decided that Boise’s best chance to win was to go for two points rather than extend play by kicking the extra point. Boise State went back to his bag of tricks and Ian Johnson’s score on a Statue of Liberty delivered the improbable victory. Then Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, a Boise State cheerleader, during the wild celebration that followed to make this contest even more legendary.

Bountiful made a similar decision. Knowing that Valeti had dominated the game all night long, the Redhawks rolled the dice. The trickeration they used was lining up in a jumbo package with two tight ends, something Bountiful had not done the entire game. They had their own star running back in Siaki Fekitoa, and it seemed logical that the Redhawks would put the fate of the game in his hands.

But as it turned out, Fekitoa was merely a decoy and Bountiful quarterback Emerson Geilman made a beautiful fake, sucking in all the Red Devil defenders and then he ran around the end on a naked bootleg untouched breaking the hearts of the Springville faithful.

Competition often brings agonizing results: The often painful thing about competition is that a team can play well and still come up short.

Though Pleasant Grove and Springville didn’t play perfectly, both teams played well enough to win against truly worthy foes if certain things might have broken their way. In Springville’s case, the Red Devils never trailed until the game’s final play.

And Pleasant Grove never trailed until Skyridge scored its touchdown in overtime. But rest assured, even in these agonizing defeats, the players of these teams played hard and played well and their efforts should truly be recognized and appreciated by their supporters.

American Fork, Lehi, and Timpview earn impressive wins: 6A top seed American Fork (11-1) downed No. 8 seed Bingham (6-6), 42-14. The 28-point margin of victory was the same as when the Cavemen played the Miners before. Dylan Story tossed for three touchdowns and Zane Edwards had a 20-yard pick six as the Cavemen rolled.

6A No. 3 seed Lehi (10-2) defeated No. 6 seed Davis (10-2) for the second time this season, 52-21. The Pioneers dominated and led 45-14 after three quarters. In Lehi’s win against Riverton in the second round, Gavin Fenn hit a 55-yard field goal and this game he nailed a 53-yarder showing that he is truly one of the best kickers in the state. Lehi quarterback Jett Niu tossed two touchdown passes and ran for two others, while Boston Fabrizio’s fourth quarter pick six of 23 yards put an exclamation point on the victory.

Timpview sophomore quarterback Helaman Casuga tossed four touchdown passes while his Thunderbird teammate Aisa Galea’i ran for two scores leading 5A No. 1 seed Timpview (9-2) to a 55-35 win over No. 8 seed Brighton (8-4). Braxton Wilkerson caught two of Casuga’s scoring passes and Timpview’s defense had two pick sixes as Taani Makasini went 66 yards to the house while Haven Halliday’s interception return of 22 yards capped the Thunderbird scoring barrage.

Season ends for Lone Peak, Payson and Timpanogos: 6A No. 10 seed Lone Peak (5-7) played well but fell short against No. 2 seed Corner Canyon (11-1), 35-21. The two teams were tied 14-14 at half before Corner Canyon scored 14 points in the third quarter to take control. Luke Christensen had two touchdown passes for the Knights in a losing cause.

4A No. 14 seed Payson (7-6) had its magical run in the playoffs come to an end losing to No. 6 seed Ridgeline (10-2), 45-6. Payson’s Cooper Swasey had a 5-yard run that opened the game’s scoring but then the Riverhawks scored 45 straight points to advance to the semifinals.

For the second time this season, 4A No. 5 seed Timpanogos (9-3) lost a close one to No. 4 Park City (11-1), this time 28-24. The Miners scored the first 21 points before Timpanogos got on the board with a Easton Bretzing 1-yard plunge. Chase Riggs tossed two touchdowns for the Timberwolves in a losing effort.

6A No. 4 seed Skyridge (10-2) vs. No. 1 seed American Fork (11-1): Unfortunately one Utah County team will eliminate another in this contest that features two very evenly matched teams. American Fork won the previous match-up in overtime, 34-27.

Skyridge is the defending state champion and making its third trip to the state championship game. American Fork hasn’t won a state title in football since back-to-back titles in 1961 and 1962.

American Fork has outscored its opponents 451-178, while Skyridge has pointed 490 and allowed 246.

American Fork’s only loss was a 17-14 defeat to Lone Peak, while Skyridge’s two losses came in overtime to American Fork and Pleasant Grove, the latter which they just avenged.

6A No. 3 seed Lehi (10-2) vs. No. 2 seed Corner Canyon (11-1): These two programs have been highly successful in recent years.

Lehi won two straight 5A titles before moving up to 6A this season, and Corner Canyon has been in five straight championship games but have lost in the 6A finals the past two years. Lehi lost to Skyridge and American Fork in Region 3 action, while Corner Canyon’s only loss was to nationally ranked Bishop Gorman out of Las Vegas.

Corner Canyon has scored a 6A high 562 points while allowing 204. Lehi has outscored its opponents 417-259. Both teams played Lone Peak. In fact, Corner Canyon played the Knights twice and the winning margins each had over the Knights suggests that this game could be really close.

5A No. 5 seed Olympus (8-3) vs. No. 1 seed Timpview (9-2): Timpview will be the prohibitive favorite in this contest. Both teams have tradition to lean on, especially Timpview which has won 11 state titles and has been in three straight 5A straight championship games.

Timpview has outscored its opponents 383-245, while Olympus has scored 318 while allowing 151. It should be noted Timpview has played better competition with its losses coming to Skyridge and Los Alamitos, California.

The two have a common opponent in Brighton. Timpview beat Brighton 55-35 while Olympus fell to the Bengals by a 24-20 score.

In the other 5A semifinal, No. 10 seed Bountiful (8-4), who beat Springville 36-35 in overtime, will take on No. 11 seed Alta (10-3), who upset No. 3 seed Roy, 13-9.

Extra points: No county teams made the top four in 4A as Payson and Timpanogos were eliminated by Ridgeline and Park City respectively … In 4A, No. 8 seed Green Canyon (9-3) pulled off a huge upset when it beat No. 1 seed and previously unbeaten Sky View (10-1). Both schools are in northern Cache Valley and the actual campuses are less than four miles apart. This means San Juan (11-0) and Richfield (12-0) are the last undefeated teams in Utah. Both will play their championship games in 2A and 3A respectively this week. San Juan, with its 36-game winning streak, will battle South Summit (10-2), while Richfield takes on rival Manti (10-2) for the 3A title. Richfield beat the Templars 28-7 in an earlier meeting … In 1A, Beaver (11-1) will play Enterprise (11-1) for the gold trophy. Beaver actually handed 2A South Summit one of its two losses. Beaver beat Enterprise 21-14 in a previous season match-up, but Enterprise beat Duchesne, who beat Beaver earlier in the season, 18-12 in overtime to reach the state championship game. One interesting aspect of that game was no team was able to convert an extra point and Enterprise didn’t even attempt to kick one … In the 8-player state championship game, top seed Rich (7-4) will battle No. 2 seed Monticello (7-4). Rich won a previous meeting, 15-6. Both teams combined actually played more 11-player games than 8-player games. Monticello played three teams from Colorado and another from Arizona, while Rich competed in a Wyoming region for most of its games … Utah County teams went 3-4 in games against out-of-valley teams but are still an impressive 55-33 overall.