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AMERICAN FORK — It took all of 46 seconds for American Fork to score first against Mountain Ridge, and it was a lead the Cavemen wouldn't relinquish as they went on to defeat the Sentinels 42-21 in the second round of the 6A playoffs.
Mountain Ridge received the opening kickoff, but two plays later the Sentinels fumbled the snap and Cavemen defensive end Drew Dickey promptly fell on to set up an incredibly short field for the home team. On American Fork's second offensive play, quarterback Lincoln Jackson connected with senior receiver Trey Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown pass to open up the scoring.
Coming off a first-round bye, thanks to their No. 4 ranking, American Fork didn't showcase any of the rust to which some teams are susceptible. The Cavemen came out fast and hard on both sides of the ball and ran up a 21-0 lead over the Sentinels by the end of the first quarter.
Those three touchdowns came courtesy of three different receivers as Jackson worked the ball around and got several playmakers involved in the game. The second came on a 56-yard pass from Jackson to Jett Nelson, and the third score came on a 19-yard pass to Jace Hull. Overall, six different players scored American Fork's six touchdowns in this game.
"Luckily, we have just so many (good players) that it's not like one guy we can go to," Jackson said. "I trust every one of them; it wasn't necessarily in the game plan. We have a very dominant offense that we can get it to any of them. I just trust in all of them, and if they're open they're open, and I'm gonna get the ball to them."
The second quarter went about the same as the first. American Fork's offense continued to move the ball with ease down the field, utilizing the legs of running back Dax Watts and Jackson's stable of passing targets. A couple of touchdowns to go along with several defensive stops allowed the Cavemen to take an 35-0 lead into the halftime break.
Cavemen increase the lead on a 6-yd TD run by Dax Watts
— Thomas Gordon (@Air_Gordon12) October 29, 2022
American Fork - 35
Mountain Ridge - 0 pic.twitter.com/hF07MYRNsI
"I thought we just executed really, really well," American Fork head coach Aaron Behm said about his team's first-half performance. "Mountain Ridge did some really good stuff; our defense just did their job and they did a really great effort. When they don't give up any points in the first half that's a huge deal. And then offensively, just being able to execute and put points on the board nearly every drive is huge in the first half."
American Fork had nine possessions in the first half and scored on five of them. While that's only a little more than half, with the Cavemen defense pitching a shutout it felt like they scored on nearly every drive.
While the offense got a lot of praise for showmanship — people love seeing points on the board — American Fork's defense put up a strong performance, particularly in the first half. The defensive line, anchored by Stanford commit Hunter Clegg, won the battle in the trenches. Mountain Ridge's quarterback typically had little time to make any reads and to get the ball to his receivers. The Sentinels' run game didn't find much success, either.
Mountain Ridge didn't convert a first down until well into the second quarter, but it didn't amount to much as the Sentinels ended up turning the ball over on downs shortly after. Throughout the entire first half, the closest the visitors came to scoring was a 47-yard field goal that missed wide left. Behm felt the defensive line deserved a lot of credit for the way they put pressure on the Mountain Ridge offense.
"I thought Waki Fulilangi and Dillon Skoy on the interior made it tough for them to throw the ball or run the ball," Behm said. "Those two guys really stood out. Zane Edwards had a great pick tonight. I think that's his first pick of the season. So yeah, those guys played great."
The Sentinels did all their scoring in the second half against mostly backups on American Fork's defense. With such a commanding lead and a look ahead to next week, the starters got a break while the second team got valuable reps. The Cavemen will move on to face No. 5 ranked Farmington in their next matchup in the playoffs.
"I feel like one of the things about this team is we have so much grit and I feel like no matter who the opponent is we're going to prepare the same way as we would if it were the state championship game," Jackson said. "We're going to come out of every week with consistency and team leadership and we're gonna have a fun week while doing it."
