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OREM — With his starting quarterback ailing on the sideline with an ankle injury suffered on the first offensive series of the game, backup quarterback Trent Call knew it was on him to keep top-ranked Skyridge's perfect start to the season intact.
The junior quarterback should get plenty of credit for the Falcons' 20-13 win over Timpview on Friday night, as well as the offensive line that helped him throw a touchdown pass and run for another.
But he also got a little help from his defense.
Collin Sheffield returned an interception 19 yards on the first play of the second half, and Call led the Falcons to a 7-point road win at Mountain View to maintain Skyridge's perfect season.
"That was the biggest play of the game," said Call, standing on the field with a WWE wrestling-style "toughness belt" slung over his shoulder. "It was a 10-out-of-10 catch, and he housed it."
He earned that belt, too.
Skyridge starter McCae Hillstead, the Utah State commit, went down on the first drive of the game after rolling awkwardly over his ankle. That left Call, who had just six carries, eight passes and two receptions of varsity experience this season, to rally the troops.
And it didn't start well.
Quezon Villa led No. 4 Timpview (4-1) and opened the scoring first with a 49-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, and then added a 1-yard dive moments after a 31-yard run with 4:56 left in the half to lift the Thunderbirds to a 13-0 lead.
But Call settled down in the middle of the second quarter, after his offense stalled in the red zone, and pulled one back with an 8-yard touchdown strike to Cannon Jensen to end the half down just 13-7.
"We practice all week to get ready for adversity; and when that adversity came, we had to step up," Sheffield said. "It's hard; it's a kick in the gut, but we had to stay on the sideline and come back.
"We were down, but we had some massive dudes step up. Every person on the team stepped up at one moment and made some awesome plays. I'm so proud."
Sheffield evened the score just nine seconds after halftime, returning an interception 19 yards for a touchdown as the Falcons (5-0) evened out the scoreline.
The 6-foot-2 senior improved off the field corner on a play he had scarcely seen on tape — maybe once or twice in Timpview's first four games of the season, Skyridge coach Jon Lehman estimated — but guessed right, placed his hands on the ball with the precision of a tight end, and bound into the end zone to tie the game with 11:51 showing in the third quarter.
"I knew I had to make a play," Sheffield said. "I got a simple read, snatched the ball, and it didn't feel real. I'm super happy for my team."
From there, it was up to Call to finish the rally, which he did by capping a nine-play, 66-yard drive to bridge the third and fourth quarters. The junior scored on a 3-yard spurt to the far side of the field, faking out the defense with a handoff to Tate Walker and sprinted to the far corner for the go-ahead touchdown with 9:12 left in the game.
Perhaps most impressive — other than a defense led by four-star linebacker recruit Tausili Akana that shut out Timpview in the second half and also got an interception from Saxon Higbee — was an offensive line that put Call and Walker behind it with 5:21 left and didn't give the ball back to Timpview, despite the Thunderbirds' two timeouts.
"Every offensive line coach in the country thinks that is beautiful football, when you have 5:30 left on the clock and we have a lead. They know we're going to run, we know we're going to run, and just execute down the stretch," Lehman said. "I'm really proud of our offensive line for just being physical and taking it out."
Every win matters in the standing, every point notching the same on the scoreboard, but Friday night's win was special for the Falcons, because of the adversity they faced and the rally it took after averaging 47.75 points in their first four games.
"The last four games, we've had some lopsided wins," Sheffield said. "But we knew starting Monday this would be a four-quarter game.
"It's a little bit sweeter when we go through some adversity. We worked our butts off, and we can honestly say we left it all on the field. Timpview is a great opponent; this was just awesome."
