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AMERICAN FORK — American Fork hosted Jordan Friday night in the 5A State Quarterfinals. Jordan, who usually has a high-powered offense, couldn’t keep up with the Cavemen who took down the Beetdiggers 58-13.
American Fork was the No. 1 seed coming from region four while Jordan was the third seed from region three.
American Fork dominated the first half as they took a commanding 38-0 lead at halftime. Zach Katoa had a great first half for American Fork, with two rushing touchdowns in addition to one receiving off of a 29-yard pass from quarterback Tanner Smith. Katoa also threw for a touchdown, completing a 61-yard pass to Coleson Worley.
Smith also made a 20-yard run for a touchdown in the first half and Jackson Nadauld added a 26-yard field goal for the Cavemen.
American Fork head coach, Aaron Behm realized the potential of Jordan’s offense who has averaged 47.3 points-per-game this season and didn’t want his team to lose focus heading into halftime with a 38-0 lead.
“(At halftime) we told them the same things we told them before the game.” Behm said. “We are going to play four quarters of football, we’ve seen (Jordan) put up 42 points in a half before so there was no lead that was safe.”
We know who Brighton is, we played them week one and I know our guys would love the chance to have a rematch with them.
–Aaron Behm
The second half was no different for American Fork as they went on to score 20 more points. Nate Honey broke free and for a 26-yard rushing touchdown. Smith completed a touchdown pass to Nate Heaps in the third quarter and Katoa rushed for one more touchdown to add to his impressive numbers for the game.
Jordan finally earned a touchdown in the third quarter and scored an additional touchdown in the fourth, but failed to convert the extra point making the final score.
Coach Behm said of his team: “We really wanted to be able to run the ball, which we did a great job of running the ball. We wanted to be prepared for anything they threw at us on offense and our defensive coaching staff had that defense prepared and ready to go.
"Nick Bernardo played great on defense," Behm added. "(He had) multiple tipped passes, a forced fumble and constantly pressured their quarterback. Offensively, Zach Katoa and Tanner Smith played great for us.”
American Fork will play Brighton on Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the 5A semifinals. American Fork lost to Brighton by one point in their first game of the season.
"We know who Brighton is, we played them week one and I know our guys would love the chance to have a rematch with them,” Behm said.
