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Sandy • After seemingly everything went in Timpview's favor in the first half, Alta junior quarterback Will Dana gathered his troops for the second drive in the third quarter.
The Hawks had just scored to slice into the Thunderbirds' 18-point lead before recording another stop on defense. Entering the season, Dana was the one unknown piece to Alta's explosive offensive puzzle, and after three easy wins against inferior opponents, this truly was his first legitimate test as the leader in the huddle.
Unshaken and unafraid of the grand stage, Dana voiced his reassuring, calming confidence to his teammates on the sideline.
"This is fun," he exclaimed. "Let's play some football."
Dana proceeded to orchestrate three more scoring drives as the fifth-ranked Hawks scored 26 unanswered points and shutout the No. 3-ranked Thunderbirds in the second half to capture a dramatic 32-24 win on Friday.
"I'm so proud of our kids right now," said Alta coach Alema Te'o. "It's a great win for the program, for the fans, for the community — hey, I'm just happy to be a Hawk. I'm happy to be a Hawk tonight. Thank you very much. I'm honored to be here. Holy moly! What a helluva night."
Combined with Orem's upset over Corner Canyon, Alta (4-0, 1-0) is now the only unbeaten team in Region 7.
"I mean, this is football. It's fun to have a comeback," Dana said. "It's fun to play with your brothers. We knew what we had to do to beat this team. … We were doing our jobs in the first half, we were just beating ourselves. We [cleaned] things up."
Timpview (3-1, 0-1) opened up a 24-6 lead at intermission behind two quarterbacks — Jake Biggs and Jordan Mariteragi. Biggs connected with Chaz Ah You on an 8-yard jump pass for a 10-0 lead in the first quarter while Mariteragi's 3-yard corner fade to Kyle Van Leeuwen late in the second sandwiched Alema Te'o's 2-yard scoring plunge.
The Thunderbirds took advantage of field position throughout the first 24 minutes, with the majority gifted by Alta's miscues on special teams, which played a huge factor in the second half, but for the other side.
Timpview missed field goal tries from 41 and 28 yards after splitting the uprights on a 42-yard attempt on its first drive of the game. Then, with the T-birds trailing 25-24 late in the fourth, a squibbed punt bounced off a Timpview player and Alta recovered 21 yards away from points.
Shortly thereafter Dana located Camden Johnsen unattended for a 17-yard touchdown for a 32-24 lead with 2:35 remaining. Landon Maxfield took a 21-yard middle screen to the end zone early in the third.
Josh Davis scored three touchdowns for the Hawks, including two in the second half. His 12-yard sprint gave Alta its first lead of the game with 9:25 left in the fourth.
"We made a couple adjustments on our front. We weren't getting to them with the pressure early on," Te'o said about his defense. "We adjusted to an even front and brought some guys off the edge to try to mix the looks up and confuse the reads of the quarterback. It really worked."
The main discussion centered around Alta has been the question: Are the Hawks back? Asked if this win was the answer to the inquiry, Dana said:
"I guess we'll see in November," he said.
Yet Friday did provide one definitive answer: Dana passed the test.
tphibbs@sltrib.com Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Storylines
R Fifth-ranked Alta scores 26 unanswered in the second half to upset No. 3-ranked Timpview.
• Alta pitched a shutout in the second half, and Josh Davis accounts for three touchdowns on the ground.
• The Hawks are now the only unbeaten team in Region 7.