Pleasant Grove football notches first win behind solid defensive effort
-
- Pleasant Grove senior Bo Goodman makes a tackle during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Pleasant Grove junior Connor Ybarra gets tackled during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Maple Mountain defenders celebrate getting a stop during the Region 7 game at Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Maple Mountain defenders make a tackle during the Region 7 game at Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Pleasant Grove junior Connor Ybarra throws a pass during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Maple Mountain senior Hayden Hyatt throws a pass during the Region 7 game at Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Pleasant Grove junior Ryder Huntsman fights for extra yards during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Pleasant Grove players take the field before the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
-
- Maple Mountain players take the field before the Region 7 game at Pleasant Grove on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
It can be challenging to stay positive when things aren’t going well.
That’s been something the Pleasant Grove football team has dealt with in the first part of the 2025 season as the Vikings lost their first three games.
But when they took the field on Friday night in Pleasant Grove for the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain, the Viking players and coaches looked like they were still having fun playing the game they loved.
“I think if you buy into the process and buy into working hard every single day, then you’re able to keep on striving to improve,” first-year Pleasant Grove head coach Jeremy LaPan said. “I think if you focus on the results too much, your emotions fall into the result category. But if it is about where you can improve, then you are always finding ways to get better.”
Viking senior linebacker Bo Goodman explained that his squad feels upbeat because it can see the progress happening.
“We’ve been preparing all week,” Goodman said. “We’ve been just keeping it in our minds that we are just going to keep pushing.”
Goodman and the Pleasant Grove defense set the tone against the Golden Eagles, holding the visitors scoreless until the final minute as the Vikings got a physical 15-6 victory.
“It feels great,” Goodman said. “It’s been a minute but we broke the streak. We’re going to keep it rolling. I could get used to this.”
LaPan said that seeing his guys finally get to celebrate a win after the tough start was extremely rewarding.
“If we just kept working hard and not seeing any improvement at all, I think guys just eventually put their hands up and want to do something different,” LaPan said. “But getting a win anywhere is really, really hard and you can’t take them for granted. We are still building and we have a lot of young guys haven’t played a bunch. When they’re seeing success, it’s definitely gratifying. I hope the guys tonight enjoy the victory but hopefully they don’t enjoy it for too long.”
Both defenses played hard-nosed, old-school, physical football, repeatedly stymying the other team’s offense and forcing turnovers and negative plays.
Maple Mountain had the best early chance to score on a deep pass in the first quarter from senior quarterback Hayden Hyatt, but the Pleasant Grove defensive back got his hand up just enough to knock the ball away.
The Viking offense had some chances after its defense forced a number of Maple Mountain turnovers, but were forced to settle for a pair of field goals.
Pleasant Grove also got some special teams points when the Vikings blocked a Golden Eagle punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The home team held on to an 8-0 lead until the final minutes, which looked like it might be enough to win but was still tenuous.
With just under two minutes to go, Pleasant Grove faced a fourth-and-10 from the Maple Mountain 43-yard line.
The Vikings lined up to punt, but after a timeout surprised the Golden Eagles by bringing the offense back out onto the field. Pleasant Grove junior quarterback Connor Ybarra took advantage of the momentary confusion to fire a strike to senior wide receiver Adam Wright for a touchdown, nearly doubling the Viking lead.
“Connor is a stud,” LaPan said. “He wants the ball on his hands every single time. I feel confident in our punt unit but right then I felt like they were going to bring 11 guys to try to block the punt. I decided I’d much rather not give up a big play on punt return and just throw the ball down the field. Connor did an awesome job.”
Maple Mountain tried to mount a comeback, with Golden Eagle freshman quarterback Cole Allred (who had to step in when Hyatt got hurt) leading his team down the field to narrow the gap with a 24-yard TD pass to junior Kyren Jones.
The rally hopes, however, were snuffed out when the visitors failed to get either the ensuing PAT or the subsequent onside kick, allowing Pleasant Grove to run out the clock.
While both LaPan and Goodman know there are plenty of things the Vikings need to do better, they feel like this was a good step in the right direction.
“I think we’re there,” Goodman said. “Next week in practice, we’re going to be feeling good. Now we just need to keep it rolling.”
Pleasant Grove (1-3) next plays at Springville on Sept. 12, while Maple Mountain (0-4) will try to get its first win at Payson the same evening.
Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
