Cavemen run over punchless Bulldogs

PROVO—The American Fork Cavemen apparently don't want any one player stealing the show.

In Friday's 35-0 season-opening road win over the Provo Bulldogs, 13 American Fork players carried the football for a total of 274 yards on the ground. The Cavemen also added another 212 yards through the air, outgaining Provo by more than 300 yards.

"This time of year it really is a benefit to have some depth," American Fork coach Davis Knight said.

Chris Wernli led that attack with 132 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow back Siosifa Militoni added 59 yards and one touchdown.

"When you start a little competition with your running backs, it's catchy," Knight said. "When a guy that's down there a ways comes in and gets the feel of it, then the linemen get the feel of it and start thinking that this other guy can run as good as the first guy, and the third guy can run as good as the second guy, and everybody starts feeling confident."

Much of the credit for the rushing yards should go to American Fork's men in the trenches, who owned the line for most of the game.

"When those kids were really zeroed in, I thought they really controlled the line of scrimmage," Knight said.

The lopsided win comes despite four turnovers by the Cavemen. They were able to overcome those mistakes because the Bulldogs turned the ball over five times, and whenever Provo did get the ball in decent field position American Fork clamped down. Provo never really did get its option game rolling, and in fact the Bulldogs' two biggest plays were passes. Sophomore Matt Griner hit Josh Mortensen for a 31-yard gain in the first half and then found Patrick Sorenson for a 35-yard gain in the second half. Those two plays accounted for more than half of Provo's offensive output.

"Playing them the last three years, I just knew we had to (stop the option). That was no secret," Knight said.

American Fork led only 7-0 at halftime, but the Bulldogs were fortunate it wasn't more. On the Cavemen's first possession Wernli broke loose for a 34-yard scoring scamper. But the Cavemen had a fumble-recovery touchdown run called back because of a senseless illegal block at the 5-yard line, and Provo's Anthony Miles intercepted one pass in the end zone and another at the goal line to end two other Cavemen drives.

In the third quarter, however, American Fork took over quickly. After Wernli returned the kickoff 35 yards, he then caught a 27-yard pass and finished the drive off with a 5-yard TD run. One possession later quarterback Taylor Jones hit Marcus Cramer in stride over the middle for a 24-yard scoring strike. On American Fork's third possession of the third, Militoni broke free for a 40-yard gain and then scored two plays later from five yards out. The Cavemen's final TD was a 1-yard pass to Jake Murphy in the first minute of the fourth.

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E-mail: jimr@desnews.com