High school football: Cavemen play for pride, outlast Timpanogos

OREM — With playoff hopes dashed and nothing but pride to play for, American Fork outlasted Timpanogos 18-14 in Regon 4 action Thursday night.

After a sluggish first quarter, the T-Wolves came back from a 6-0 deficit, but the Cavemen proved tough as they scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to get the victory.

"I have to hand it to my seniors and captains," said American Fork coach Davis Knight. "They didn't let the fact that they're not taking a fourth-place team from this region get them down and they came out saying they really wanted to play a football game."

In a battle of wills and field position American Fork (2-3, 5-5) jumped out to the early lead on an interception returned for a touchdown. Caveman defensive back Weston Frandsen picked off Timpanogos (1-4, 3-6) quarterback Parker Brown's pass near midfield and trotted safely to the end zone. The lead looked like it would hold up as the Timpanogos offense struggled to get things going.

Late in the second quarter Timpanogos finally found paydirt as Brown, rolling to his left, found wide receiver Justin Nickle open down field. After making the catch Nickle, stumbling to the ground, slipped a tackle and stretched the ball over the goal line. On the next possession, American Fork quarterback Jordan Lusk threw a pick to Parker Almeida, who returned it to the Caveman 3-yard line. Brown would later dance into the end zone to take a 14-6 lead into half time.

In a scoreless third quarter, the Cavemen missed a golden opportunity to cut into the lead after a time-consuming drive down inside the Timpanogos 5-yard line. Lusk's pass into the end zone was picked off, sending American Fork away empty-handed. Nevertheless, early in the fourth quarter, American Fork got redemption as Cade Zarbock mashed his way into the end zone to bring his team within two at 14-12.

After the Timpanogos defense forced the Cavemen to punt with just over two minutes remaining, the game appeared to be in the bag. However, a fumble recovered by American Fork deep in Timp territory set up Zarbock for the go-ahead score as he banged his way in from a yard out to take a 18-14 lead.

Two interceptions on the night by Caveman safety Spencer Magleby helped seal the victory for American Fork sending its seniors out with the win.

"For me it's worth a million dollars," Knight said. "To send those kids out with a win is great."