As the game progressed to the fourth quarter, Salem Hills found itself with a 20-13 lead but pinned deep in its own territory. It appeared that Timpanogos linebacker Kapplan Nukaya had picked off a pass from Salem Hills’ quarterback Cash Hollingshead but the officials ruled that the ball came loose and hit the turf as Nukaya made contact with the ground.

Still, Salem Hills faced a third down and 15 yards to go on its own 5-yard line and this is when Hollingshead made one of the most amazing plays of the season.

The snap went over his head toward the back of the end zone. Hollingshead retreated to retrieve the ball, and then escaped the Timpanogos rush to his left. In the chaos, Peyton Higginson found himself all alone. Throwing against his body, Hollingshead connected with the Salem Hills receiver on a 41-yard gain.

Hollingshead actually credited his time playing baseball for helping him to keep his composure.

Brian E. Preece, Herald correspondent

“It was definitely an ‘oh crap’ moment,” Hollingshead said. “I play baseball and just remembered to get the ball first, turn around and get out. Luckily, I had Peyton Higginson who was open and ready.”

The importance of the play was that it flipped field position. Salem Hills was able to get two more first downs and then with a fourth down and five yards on the Timberwolf 35-yard line, the Skyhawks chose to punt the ball away with just over two minutes to play pinning Timpanogos at their own 13-yard line.

The Timberwolves were able to drive it to midfield but Salem Hills was able to bat down two passes at the line of scrimmage including one by Maddox Haskell on fourth down that sealed a hard-fought 20-13 win for Salem Hills.

Salem Hills head coach Jeff Higginson also pointed to the Houdini escape act by Hollingshead as being one of the critical plays of the game.

“That’s what makes him special,” Higginson said. “He makes plays like that and he’s able to find Peyton. He’s a gritty kid. He’s a gritty, tough player. When he gets going, it’s all she wrote.”

Hollingshead accounted for all three Skyhawk touchdowns in the game, the first one a connection with Higginson that covered 10 yards. Then in Salem Hills’ opening drive to start the second half on Saturday, Hollingshead launched a beautiful 49-yard pass that hit Logan Carrick in stride to put the Skyhawks out in front 13-6. Later in the quarter, Hollingshead used his legs taking it one from one-yard out to increase the Skyhawk lead to 20-6.

Timpanogos got its own heroic effort from Zack McCann who had two scores and had 51-yard reception on a swing pass where he tip-toed down the sideline called back because of a holding penalty.

Timpanogos head coach Nolan Nielsen recognized the quality of play he received from McCann, also a returning state champion wrestler.

“He fights so hard,” Nielsen said. “He’s the toughest kid I’ve ever met and he just loves football and he loves his teammates, and he loves competing and growing.”

McCann’s first score was a 12-yard reception from Logan Holloway and then he added a 3-yard run in the final stanza that trimmed the Salem Hills lead to 20-13.

Both teams were plagued by penalties in the second half of play on Saturday but Timpanogos was arguably more impacted. Besides the touchdown being called back leading eventually to a Salem Hills defensive stop where they in turn scored on their next offensive possession, other penalties short-circuited Timberwolf drives or kept Salem Hills drives alive. Though the breaks didn’t go their way, the Timpanogos head coach was philosophical about needing to control your own destiny and overcome adversity.

“The biggest thing we talk about and tell the boys is that ‘you got to control what you can control,'” said Nielsen. “At the end of the day, I would love never to be put in a position that those calls matter, where we can be up enough that it doesn’t make a difference.

“We didn’t execute on our level today. Obviously, there were some calls that were missed but we have to do better on our part too.”

One of those key moments was on Friday when late in the first half Timpanogos was driving and in a good position to take the lead before halftime. But Holloway was intercepted by Salem Hills’ Gordon Wilson and the half ended 6-6 with both teams scoring touchdowns but missing the extra points.

Salem Hills (4-2, 2-1) will hit the road to take on Mountain View (3-3, 1-2), while Timpanogos (3-3, 2-1) hopes to bounce back when it hosts Deer Creek (0-6, 0-3).

Score by Quarter

T- 0 6 0 0 7 -13

SH 0 6 14 0 -20

T-McCann 12 pass from Holloway (kick failed)

SH-Higginson 10 pass from Hollinshead (kick failed)

SH-Carrick 49 pass from Hollingshead (Jack Nelson kick)

SH-Hollinghead 1 run (Nelson kick)

T-McCann 3 run (Luke Bergin kick)