The Bulldogs scored early and often and overwhelmed the home team on their Senior Night to win their sixth game in a row.

A key player in this winning streak that has led to a second straight league title has been quarterback Gehrig Orchard. The junior was pressed into service when two-year starter Soakai Ashton decided to transfer to Timpview. There was a bit of a learning curve as Provo lost its two first games to 5A teams Brighton and Olympus, but as Orchard settled in, the Bulldog offense has taken off.

Orchard has thrown five touchdowns in each of Provo’s past two victories.

“I just really appreciate the coaches for putting their trust in me,” Orchard said. “In the beginning of the season, I struggled a little bit, but we just got better and better every single game, every practice and really pushed it. I think the whole team has gotten better as well, my O-line, and that has helped me as well.”

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

Provo head coach Kirk Chambers concurred that Orchard’s steady and improved play has been paramount to the Bulldog winning streak and region trophy run.

“Gehrig is doing a lot of great stuff,” Chambers said. “He’s moving well in the pocket, he’s keeping his eyes downfield, and his accuracy has what really made the difference in these last six games.”

In this winning streak Provo has scored 35, 37, 48, 47, 46, and now 63 points showing off an impressive arsenal of offensive talent. In fact, in the game with Uintah, five different players scored the first five Bulldog touchdowns of the game.

Provo running back Ollie Mackay started off the 28-point barrage in the first quarter with a 1-yard run followed by Orchard’s three touchdown tosses to Bryant Larsen (23 yards), Crew DeMartini (19 yards), and Ronnie Wright (17 yards), then another TD on the ground with Malik Filomoeatu on a 13-yard scamper.

Uintah’s Dace O’Bagy still had some nice kickoff returns before busting loose on a 97-yard one to paydirt that cut Provo’s lead to 28-7.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

But Provo kept pouring it on with two more scores in the first half as Griffin DeMartini hauled in two touchdown passes of 11 and 26 yards. Kaysten Ussery had a 3-yard run for Uintah, but the Utes still trailed 49-21 at the break.

Provo scored 14 points in the third quarter as MacKay had a touchdown run of four yards and then a 51-yard scamper to the house for the Bulldogs. This put Provo ahead by 36 points and started the running clock rule. So, after the teams combined for 90 points in three quarters, neither team scored in the final stanza.

Provo’s defense had its nice moments as well.

Teave Brown and Mason Gregory had fumble recoveries in the first quarter that set up Provo’s offense inside Ute territory.

Then on special teams Jonah Loosli connected on all nine extra points which helped Provo earn that 36-point lead giving the Bulldogs a chance to get home a little earlier on a school night.

The success and region title earned by Provo did not come by surprise to Chambers as he thought the talent was there, even after some early-season struggles.

“We’ve known we’ve had a good team even from our summer camps down in SUU going against other teams,” Chambers said. “We always felt that this team had a chance to do something special. A region championship is something special and we’re excited about that.”

Provo (5-0, 6-2) still has one league game remaining as it hosts Mountain View (1-4, 3-6) on Wednesday for its Senior Night, while Uintah (6-3, 2-3) will close out its regular season at Payson, also on Wednesday. Both contests are slated to start at 7 p.m.