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RIVERTON — Riverton headed into Friday night's homecoming game against American Fork with a 3-0 record and averaging 52.3 points per game, but its run-heavy attack was shut down by American Fork. Outside of a few rollout and play action moves, Riverton's offense was stuck all night.
American Fork defeated Riverton 35-18 to start off Region 4 play. The Cavemen's defense allowed just one touchdown and a field goal. The other score was from a 98-yard kickoff return by Riverton's Zac Lalliss.
After Riverton's kick-off return, with the game tied 7-7, the Silverwolves had a chance to take the lead. Riverton linebacker Samoa Toiaivao picked off American Fork's Tanner Smith, but the turnover didn't lead to any points.
The Silverwolves' offense drove down the field, converting a fake punt by running back Cameron Christensen. However, the drive ended with a ball that was overthrown and caught out of bounds in the end zone on an 11-yard fourth down attempt.
American Fork then took advantage of the defensive stand and marched down the field. The Cavemen got a big play when a Silverwolves defender appeared to have Smith down for a sack while hanging onto one of his legs, but Smith was able to complete a short throw that turned into a 40-yard catch-and-run. The same drive was extended when Riverton went offsides on third down to allow American Fork to continue driving down the field.
American Fork ended up scoring a touchdown on the drive when running back Zach Katoa was given the ball, and instead of running it in he throw a wounded duck to a wide open Coleson Worley in the end zone, who caught the 7-yard touchdown pass. That touchdown put American Fork up 14-7.
Katoa was a force Friday night. In addition to the passing touchdown, he also scored a pair on the ground from 1 and 4 yards out. He also rushed for 77 yards on 17 attempts and had the only rushing attack for the Cavemen.
Riverton had a chance to make it a game again in the third quarter. Trailing 21-7 and facing third-and-inches in the red zone, a handoff exchange was botched, and the play resulted in losing 9 yards. Instead of having a chance of making it a one-touchdown game, Riverton kicked a field goal to make it 21-10.
While the game was clearly in the hands of American Fork the whole night, the nail in the coffin came when American Fork decided to go for it on fourth-and-22. The Cavemen were at the Silverwolves' 26-yard line, which was too close to punt but too far for a field goal attempt. A pass play was drawn up to perfection when Smith found a wide open Nate Heaps in the middle of the end zone, and that put American Fork up for good at 28-10.
Smith had a huge day for the Cavemen by throwing for 288 yards with one passing score and two rushing touchdowns on the night.
American Fork thwarted any comeback multiple times against Riverton by recovering an attempted onside kick and recovering a fumble at its own 1-yard line late in the game.
Despite some early miscues in the throwing game for American Fork, the offense moved the ball well Friday night, but for the second week in a row, the American Fork defense helped lead the team to victory.
