High School Football: T-Wolves overcome penalties to outlast Lions

TIMPANOGOS — It may not have been pretty, but Timpanogos head coach Ed Larson will take it.

The Timber Wolves kicked the new football season off Friday night with a 13-6 win over the visiting Payson Lions.

Timpanogos relied heavily on timely big plays and a physical defense to pick up the win for Larson—who is in his first year coaching at the school.

The T-Wolves (1-0) proved that their aerial attack is a force to be reckoned with. Quarterback Zac Larson completed 11 of his 17 passes for 140 yards, while wide receiver Damian Rivers caught four balls for 68 yards.

Payson quarterback Clint Bateman led the Lions (0-1) with 103 yards on 7-of-17 passing and a touchdown. Bateman also carried the ball 17 times for 40 yards, while wide receiver Brady Loveless had five catches for 76 yards and a score.

Penalties set back Timpanogos all night long stalling drives and keeping Payson's offense on the field. The T-Wolves were penalized 10 times for 102 yards.

Still, the Timber Wolves used some trickery on their first play from scrimmage to gain important momentum. A 69-yard reverse pass from Rivers to Bryson Nickle set up a 2-yard scoring plunge from running back Kai Davis to put Timpanogos up early 7-0.

After a Payson punt, the T-Wolves were driving down the field again. But an errant throw was picked off by the Lions and returned all the way to the Timpanogos 38-yard line.

A few plays later, Bateman and Loveless hooked up on a 13-yard strike in the end zone. But the PAT went wide, and the T-Wolves led 7-6 going into the half.

A bad snap on a punt gave the Lions the ball on the T-Wolf 19-yard line to start the second half. But a Bateman pass was deflected into the hands of Timpanogos' Cade Terris in the end zone, and the defense came up big once again.

The momentum shifted back to Timpanogos as Larson completed passes of 21, 31, and 23 yards, and the T-Wolves found themselves knocking on the door yet again.

On 4th and goal at the 1-yard line, Larson took the snap and lunged forward to put the home team ahead 13-6.

The Timpanogos defense—anchored by Rutland and run-stopper Esi Havili—took care of it from there, and kept Payson away from the end zone.

Coach Larson said that while he was happy to pick up the win, he feels his team still needs to tighten some screws.

"I expected a little bit more than what we got," he said. "We've got a lot of things to clean up, but we're 1-0, and no one will know what the score was in three weeks."

Zac Larson—who is the son of the elder Larson—echoed his coach's sentiments.

"We never really got to establish many long drives," he added. "But we picked up the win, so I'm happy."

The T-Wolves will travel to American Fork next week while the Lions will have their home opener against Orem.