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OREM — Special teams stole the show in Friday's 5A state football quarterfinal, where Orem hit a late, go-ahead field goal and blocked Alta's potential game-winning kick to escape the Hawks 26-24.
It was a back-and-forth affair packed with turnovers and penalties, where the Tigers found themselves down by a single point with less than 80 seconds to play.
With the season on the line, Orem head coach Gabe Sewell went all in, sending freshman kicker Kaue Akana out to attempt a 32-yard shot to take the lead. The young leg rewarded Sewell's gamble by nailing the kick and putting Orem up for good.
"With the magnitude of that play, the scenario and the situation, I was a little bit hesitant to throw him out there," Sewell said of Akana. "But he practiced every day just like everybody else, and I had to give him the opportunity, and he didn't fail."
Even with time running thin, Alta refused to go down without a fight. The Hawks drove downfield — highlighted by a deep, diving grab by Noah Flores on third down to reach field-goal territory — to set up their own possible go-ahead kick that would all but bury the Tigers.
Not if Roger Saleapaga had anything to say about it.
After Sewell attempted to ice Hawks kicker Lincoln Eberhardt, Orem's utility Saleapaga crashed through the line and stuck his arms up to swat the kick away and send the Tigers to next week's state 5A semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
"Luckily, I had an extra timeout there to try to ice the kicker and make something happen, and we were able to get a hand on it and run the rest of the clock out," Sewell said.
In addition to his kick-blocking heroics, Saleapaga caught a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Lance Reynolds — including a 46-yard Hail Mary score just before halftime — while Feleti Longi found the end zone for the Tigers, as well.
Alta's Flores played the game of his life and snagged three interceptions on defense, dashed for an 85-yard touchdown run and hauled in another 73-yard receiving score. Hawks quarterback Matt McKea also found Jace Turner for a 19-yard touchdown catch earlier in the night.
The Hawks scored just 7 points in the second half, but the Tigers managed just 5 points and still earned the win. Go figure.
Orem now advances to the 5A semifinal next week against Timpview, with the Tigers seeking their fifth state championship in the past six years.
"It's been a regular thing here at Orem," Sewell said of the team's deep playoff run. "We ended in the semifinals last year, and now we get a chance to redeem ourselves and show our younger kids what big time football looks like."
