American Fork shuts out Pleasant Grove with stellar defensive effort

PLEASANT GROVE — American Fork received the opening kickoff on Friday, and six minutes later the Cavemen scored what would be the game-winning touchdown in a 17-0 shutout win over Pleasant Grove.

The two teams came into the game with identical records — both 5-2 on the season and in 1-1 in region play — but in the battle to see who came out ahead, the Cavemen flexed their muscles on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense.

After scoring on the opening drive, American Fork's defense forced a quick three-and-out from Pleasant Grove's offense, which seemed to illustrate how the night went for both teams. In the first quarter, the Vikings only had the one offensive drive, in which they ran for three plays before they gave the ball back to American Fork.

The Cavemen didn't waste any time and marched downfield on a 12-play drive for the second score of the night — a 2-yard passing touchdown from Champion Edwards to Stanford-commit Hunter Clegg. Head coach Aaron Behm pointed to his team's two opening drives as the key to securing a win over Pleasant Grove.

"We won the turnover battle," Behm said. "We ran the football, put together two really good long drives that came with touchdowns — first and second drives of the game — and that kind of set the tone for how the game was gonna go."

Pleasant Grove's second drive didn't go any better than the first, as Vikings backup quarterback Mason Jensen, who started for injured senior Nic Staffieri, threw three straight incompletions to force another punt.

The Vikings struggled with rhythm on offense all night, largely due to American Fork's defense. Led by Clegg and a firm defensive line, the Cavemen wreaked havoc on the Vikings and put pressure on the sophomore quarterback. Pleasant Grove eventually found some success with the run game, but passing the ball became a nightmare.

"It's always good to just do your job in the run, fill gaps, make him (the opposing quarterback) feel you," Clegg said. "There was a lot of good plays where the quarterback was — he was definitely looking at me; he was definitely aware that I was there, so that makes a difference."

Pleasant Grove put together its best drive of the game near the end of the first half as the offensive line gained ground against the Cavemen defense and opened up running lanes for the running back duo of Wade Christiansen and Jaeden Wright; however, some unfortunate time management led to the Vikings running out the clock before the half ended on American Fork's 26-yard line.

For the first time, Pleasant Grove's offense looked like it might break through as the Vikings received the ball to start the second half, but the Cavemen defense stuffed them yet again and forced another punt after just three offensive plays.

"We knew we were gonna have to kick the ball off," Behm said. "So we said three things (at halftime): We've got to have great kickoff coverage, we've got to get a three-and-out, and then the offense needs a score."

Despite the Vikings' offensive struggles, the defense played well in the second half to limit the Cavemen to a single field goal near the beginning of the fourth quarter. But by that point, the damage was too much to overcome for the Vikings.

Nearly every time Pleasant Grove looked like they were getting going on offense, something would go awry — either on their end or caused by American Fork's defense. On the Vikings' final drive of the game, they drove into Cavemen territory; but on fourth down, American Fork linebacker Cale Burrows intercepted the ball to seal the outcome of the game.

With now differing records, the Vikings and Cavemen face equally differing challenges in the coming week. Pleasant Grove will look to get back in the win column but faces a tall task as Skyridge visits. Meanwhile, American Fork returns home in hopes to keep their momentum going against a struggling Westlake.

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