High school football: Dons open up a tight game with big finish

SPANISH FORK — The Spanish Fork High School football field on Friday night was home to the big play and the quick score.

Though both Spanish Fork and Payson offenses took the third quarter off during their Region 8 game, the rest of the contest was filled with exciting plays and loads of scoring. In the end, the Dons came away with a 47-31 victory over their new region rivals to give themselves a 2-0 region record so far this season.

The two teams kept things pretty even with four touchdowns apiece through the first half, the only difference being Payson's inability to score the points after. But it was the fourth quarter where the Dons opened things up. Just after the two teams changed ends of the field and the new 12 minutes went up on the scoreboard announcing the fourth quarter had begun, Spanish Fork added its fifth score of the contest.

Tim Moala ran one in from seven yards out to give the Dons a 35-25 lead and a little more cushion. But it was just three minutes later when things really exploded in favor of Spanish Fork.

The Dons picked up some big gains by PJ Inoke, who ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, after which the kick failed, giving the Dons a 41-25 lead. Several flags announcing personal fouls all around after the touchdown was scored led to some high emotions on both sides.

Spanish Fork capitalized on a fumble just two plays later on the Payson 13 yard line. It only took the Dons one play to pick up their second touchdown in only 17 seconds of clock time as sophomore quarterback Hayden Nielsen tossed a touchdown pass to Jordunn Mattinson to give the Dons a 47-25 lead.

Though Payson was able to pick up a score of its own less than two minutes later on a 21-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback sophomore Clint Bateman to CJ Ford, they couldn't add any more points in the game, leaving themselves with the 16-point loss.

The first half was no less exciting as Payson broke first blood on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Colton Cannon to Chris Robbins. But Spanish Fork came back quickly on the first of three connections for points from Nielsen to Travis Still.

The first was a 16-yard touchdown pass that evened the game at 7-7. But Payson quickly came back on a touchdown reception from Cannon to Brady Loveless for a 55-yard touchdown with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, a mere two and a half minutes after their first score of the game.

Nielsen finished things off for the Dons in the first quarter on a 51-yard touchdown run with four minutes remaining, giving Spanish Fork a 14-13 lead after a successful kick by Chet Harmer.

The Dons picked up two more scores in the second quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nielsen to Still and a 65-yard touchdown pass between the same players.

Payson added their pair of scores on a two-yard quarterback keeper by Cannon and a 24-yard touchdown pass from Cannon to Loveless after Cannon avoided the sack by about six different Spanish Fork players.

The Lions now find themselves at 1-2 in region play.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com