ALPINE — In game that featured a quarterback that threw for five touchdowns, it was defense that won the day.

Brock Jones threw for 368 yards and five touchdowns, and Lone Peak’s defense pulled down three interceptions as the Knights pulled away from rival American Fork 53-34 in a Region 4 opener for both teams Friday night at Lone Peak.

“We knew coming in that their offense was high powered, and a turnover here and there was really going to flip the game to one side or the other,” Lone Peak coach Bart Brockbank said.

Lone Peak picked off American Fork quarterback Bronson Barron three times, including Jared Fotu’s 50-yard pick-six with 4:42 remaining in regulation to ice the game.

“I think we started off slow, but our offense kept us in it,” said Fotu, who stepped aside a blocker and sprinted across the middle of the field for a touchdown. “We felt good at the end of the first half, and then in the second half.”

Lone Peak (5-1, 1-0 Region 4) struggled early, especially for a team that has scored 40 or more points in four-straight games. Jones led the Knights on an 80-yard touchdown drive to open the game, capped by Masen Wake’s 5-yard TD dive four minutes into the game.

But Bronson Barron answered back. The American Fork quarterback tossed a 27-yard TD strike to Farrell Dean with 4:49 left in the first quarter, and the game had all the makings of a shootout.

Jones hit Kobe Freeman with his first of two touchdowns on the evening, as the game continued its back-and-forth pendulum swing.

American Fork took advantage of two stops on fourth-and-one in the first half, and Barron’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Chase Roberts gave the Cavemen (3-3, 0-1) a 20-14 lead with 6:25 left in the second quarter.

That’s when the game turned.

Jones gave the lead back to the Knights via a 28-yard strike to Brigham Trowbridge — and Chase Tucker picked off Barron on the ensuing drive that led to another quick score for a 27-20 halftime lead.

“We always try to get big defensive plays,” Fotu said. “We want to be the ones to keep us in the game.

“The offense did that today, and we stepped up in the end.”

The Knights scored on every possession of the second half until a kneel down to kill the clock in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

“We haven’t really been hit in the face and come back to take the lead, and I felt like that turned the tide,” Brockbank said. “We got hit in the face, came back, and then came back and won.”

Still, rivalry game’s don’t end easily.

Barron, who threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns, used his legs for a 3-yard TD dive to pull the Cavemen within a score, 40-34 on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.

But Wake scampered down field to cap an 80-yard drive on the next possession, and Jared Fotu’s pick-six sealed the win as the Knights opened region play with a W.

“That just breaks a team’s back,” Brockbank said. “Even if there is time to come back, it takes time to get it back. The momentum shift is enormous as our crowd and sideline is going crazy.”

Sky View 16, Mountain Crest 13

At Hyrum, Tanner Stokes’ 1-yard touchdown plunge as time expired was enough to give the Bobcats a come-from-behind win over rival Mountain Crest.

Sky View quarterback Jackson Siddoway’s 21-yard TD strike to Mason Falsely gave the Bobcats a 10-6 halftime lead. But the Mustang defense shut out the Bobcats in the third quarter, and Mountain Crest took a 13-10 lead on Cameron Moser’s 38-yard pass to Brady Hall.

Kearns 41, Cyprus 27

At Cyprus, Sesa Felila ran for three of the Cougars’ five touchdowns on the ground to roll past the Pirates in the KSL Game of the Week.

Isaac Matua’s 14-yard TD pass to Antonio Aviles gave Kearns a 21-0 lead after the first quarter, and there was no stopping the momentum.

Parker Meldrum threw two touchdown passes for Cyprus.

Click the video above for highlights from Week 6 of the high school football season.

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