High school football: Timpview gets past Orem to take Region 7 title

In the last game of the regular season, Timpview found a way to get past Orem 35-21 to win the Region 7 5A title.

"We're constantly thinking about how can we get the ball out. It's been awesome for our O-line, to the quarterbacks and running backs. We stacked with some really good players and playmakers, and we love having those options. It's been fun and it's been a process throughout this whole season to see who our leaders are," said Timpview head coach Donny Atuai.

Timpview wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, with quarterback Carson Rasmussen finding Taani Makasini for a big 84-yard touchdown reception on the team's first offensive drive of the game.

Timpview took the early lead and refused to give it up, with the defense making big time stops in key moments of the game.

Orem quickly responded to Timpview's score less than two minutes later with a 56-yard run by Feleti Iongi to tie the score up.

Timpview took the lead back toward the end of the quarter with a short 3-yard run by Aisa Galea'I, his first of two rushing touchdowns on the night.

Timpview tacked on another scored midway through the second quarter to double their lead and eventually take a 21-7 lead into the halftime break.

Timpview's came up massive in the second half, only allowing Orem to score one touchdown for the entire half.

"It shows the resilience of these kids. They make a good play, and they are listening to the coaches. In a way it was nice to cause those turnovers, and we just need to make sure we didn't give them any sort of rhythm because they have some studs as well."

Backup quarterback Soakai Aston entered the game for an injured Rasmussen midway through the third quarter and seemed fully prepared for the moment, delivering two touchdown passes to Jaron Pula and Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach for Timpview.

"Carson is our main guy, but it is so nice to have Sokai there backing him up. We're hoping Carson can get healed up and contribute to our run in the playoffs but it's nice having Sofai and he's been preparing for this moment," said Atuai.

Atuai hopes that this game along with the tough teams that they faced at the beginning of the season will help them on a postseason tournament run, something that they are very accustomed to.

"We have to keep our players hungry. That's our job as coaches is to keep them hungry. The first couple games of our season gave us a tough schedule and it's those games that prepare you for times like this."