High school football: Knights knock off Vikings, clinch share of Region 4 crown

HIGHLAND — The Lone Peak Knights' first goal for this football season was to win at least a share of the Region 4 crown.

With Wednesday's dominating 33-3 win over rival Pleasant Grove, the Knights are now guaranteed of at least a share of the league title. Alta, the previously unbeaten Vikings, and Lone Peak each have one region loss now.

The Knights, however, are done with league play. Meanwhile, Alta and Pleasant Grove meet next week. So Lone Peak will share the title with one of those teams and will get the No. 1 seed into the playoffs if the Vikings can upset the Hawks. If Alta wins that game, Lone Peak will be the No. 2 seed and Pleasant Grove the No. 3 seed.

"We challenged our seniors and our captains," Lone Peak coach Tony McGeary said. "We wanted to get a piece of the region championship, and we knew we had to beat (Pleasant Grove) because they were undefeated. So we'll just see what happens in the next round for them."

Most expected a lot closer battle Wednesday than the lopsided 30-point Lone Peak victory. However, behind a smothering defense that shut down the Vikings' running game and caused constant havoc for reserve quarterback Donny Lewis, the Knights were never in trouble after scoring 20 first-half points.

"We knew they were a little bit handicapped without their No. 1 quarterback, and that's unfortunate for them, but our kids stepped up and we didn't take anything lightly," McGeary said.

Offensively, Lone Peak also had little trouble moving the ball through the air. The Knights finished with 352 total yards of offense to only 172 for Pleasant Grove. Lone Peak quarterback Tannon Pedersen finished with 302 yards passing on 19-of-23 with two touchdowns. He also ran for a 10-yard score. The Vikings had only 35 yards on 28 carries, and 137 passing yards on 8-of-23 attempts and two interceptions. "We thought we could move it on them here and there, but I think our offense played real efficient tonight," Pedersen said.

Lone Peak took a 7-0 lead on the fourth play of the game when Pedersen rolled right and found Jacob Hanneman behind Pleasant Grove's defenders for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Pedersen's pass hit Hanneman in stride at the 30-yard line and he ran untouched the rest of the way.

Pleasant Grove's best drive came next when the Vikings took 14 plays to march down to the Lone Peak 14. But a sack of Lewis by Sae Tautu forced Pleasant Grove to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Winston Sorhaitz, making it a 7-3 game.