In an epic game that had plenty of heroes, none were bigger than Provo’s Tagai Lesa whose 1-yard plunge and two-point conversion reception with 51 seconds left delivered Provo a 29-22 Region 8 prep football road win over Spanish Fork Friday night.

Spanish Fork looked poised to pull off the upset when Kaden Vest’s 5-yard run gave the Dons a 22-21 lead. Spanish Fork went for two points and were stopped so the lead remained at a single point with 3:54 remaining in the final stanza.

The Dons then forced Provo to punt and took over at their 40-yard line, only needing one first down to put the game away.

Three plays later, however, the ball was near midfield where the Dons faced a fourth-and-1. Spanish Fork elected to punt the ball away with Provo taking over on their 20-yard line with 1:16 remaining.

Provo’s first play was an incomplete pass but then junior quarterback Soakai Ashton found Drew Duecher wide open down the sideline on a 47-yard strike that put the Bulldogs on the 33-yard line in Spanish Fork territory.

The next play proved critical as Ashton avoided a sack by throwing the ball away, saving Provo critical time and field position.

And then Provo rolled the dice calling a Statue-of-Liberty draw play where Ashton looked like he was going to pass then he put the ball in Lesa’s belly. Lesa broke through the middle of the line and then darted left down the Provo sideline before being pushed out of bounds at the 1-yard line with 54 seconds remaining.

Provo didn’t mess around scoring as Lesa went over the goal line to give Provo a 5-point lead. Ashton then hit Lesa to put the Bulldogs up by seven points at 29-22.

On the draw play that set up the score, Lesa was quick to credit his coaches and teammates.

“I give all the credit to the Lord above and the coach (offensive coordinator Garrett Duecher) for a beautiful play call,” Lesa said. “The O-line executed. Our offensive line is young but they have the best O-line coach in the state.” Lesa was referring to his head coach Kirk Chambers who works specifically with the offensive line.

Spanish Fork showed some fight and their sophomore quarterback McKay Smith moved the Dons inside Bulldog territory with 14 seconds remaining. But that’s when Provo’s defense came through with a turnover as Hutch Fale secured the interception after teammate Kyle Larsen deflected it away from a Don receiver.

After Fale’s short return there were just six seconds left, and after a kneel down, Provo left with a win that most likely delivered Provo the Region 8 title.

“That was a classic, a game of the ages,” said Chambers. “Dustin Smith (the Spanish Fork head coach) does such an incredible job, and it seems like we’re in a battle every year. What is now, four years, that we have battled, battled and battled, and fortunately we came out on top.”

Chambers was complimentary of both teams’ running backs as Spanish Fork’s Kaden Vest had a huge game carrying the ball 32 times for 202 yards and a touchdown.

“That Vest kid, holy smokes,” Chambers said. “He really put their offense on his shoulders and kept plugging, plugging and plugging and our defense had a hard time stopping him.”

However, when it was needed most, Provo’s defense stepped up to the occasion.

“In the end our defense showed up and our offense made the plays when they needed to,” Chambers said.

But while Vest was doing his thing, Lesa’s play was huge in the Bulldog victory. Lesa carried the ball 12 times for 107 yards and had one touchdown reception, a 24-yard score where he took a swing pass from Ashton and ran through several Don tacklers. At the time it gave Provo a 21-10 lead in the third quarter and his effort was not lost on Chambers.

“The most impressive (play) was when he just bulled over four or five guys in one play,” Chambers aid. “What an effort.”

Provo wide receivers and defensive backs Larsen and Duecher were big on both sides of the field. Larsen had an interception in the first quarter that thwarted a Don scoring opportunity and then hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing 97-yard drive to put Provo ahead, 7-0.

As for Duecher, besides his big catch on the winning drive, he hauled in a 21-yard scoring reception from Ashton that gave Provo a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

Spanish Fork used a wildcat package effectively and Spencer Tupou scored two touchdowns on runs of seven yards and one yard respectively. Benji Vargas added a 22-yard field goal for the Dons in the second quarter to account for the scoring for Spanish Fork.

However, the Dons were plagued by three turnovers and missed on two two-point conversions that ultimately forced them to try to drive for a touchdown rather than a game-tying field goal.

Provo (6-2, 4-0) will host Uintah (2-6, 0-4) while Spanish Fork (3-4, 2-2) will travel to take on Payson (3-5, 1-3). Both games will be Friday at 7 p.m.

BOX SCORE

Provo 7 7 7 8 – 29

SF 7 3 0 12 – 22

P-Kyle Larsen 9 pass from Soakai Ashton (Jonah Loosli kick)

SF-Spencer Tupou 7 run (Benji Vargas kick)

P-Drew Duecher 21 pass from Ashton (Loosli kick)

SF-Vargas 22 FG

P-Tagai Lesa 24 pass from Ashton (Loosli kick)

SF-Tupou 1 run (run failed)

SF-Kaden Vest 5 run (pass failed)

P-Lesa 1 run (Lesa pass from Ashton)

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