Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — By the coaches' and players' own admission, Timpview's offense was out of sorts Friday night during the first half of its rivalry game with Provo High.
Maybe it was the rivalry atmosphere, the sold-out stadium, or the 32-game winning streak that got to the Thunderbirds.
Whatever it was, penalties and miscues reigned and Timpview didn't score a touchdown in the first quarter for the first time in the short three-game season.
Quezon Villa's 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter helped, but there was something off.
Fortunately, nothing turned off the Thunderbird defense.
Helaman Casuga took control in the second half, including a 40-yard touchdown strike to Keenan Pula, and Timpview shut out the Bulldogs for three quarters en route to a 21-13 win.
It's OK to breathe now, Thunderbirds; the streak remains intact — even if imperfectly.
"Rivalry brings that out, with a game like this. But in my head, it was just a battle between ourselves," Timpview coach Donny Atuaia said. "We could've played a lot better, but we were glad we came out with the win. Coach Chambers has a great team at Provo; I think they're going to do some great things. But for us, we left a lot on the table and didn't take advantage of the opportunity we had to put this game away. It's a lot of work needed for us as a team."
After a scoreless opening quarter, Casuga took advantage of a missed field goal deep in Provo's territory before marching the Thunderbirds more than 70 yards downfield before Villa's short score.
Timpview's defense bent again, but never broke, including as it watched Provo quarterback Soakai Aston's pass sail out of the back of the end zone from the 7-yard line as time expired on the first half.
"There are going to be games where the offense can do the majority of the work, and today was a game where the defense carried us," Atuaia said. "Coach Dre did a really good job getting these guys prepared, even with their backs against the wall. That drive at the end of the first half was huge for us. … Our defense stepped up for us today."
Plenty of credit goes to the Bulldogs (2-1) for the way they tested their crosstown rivals, looking for the first on-field win since the Reagan administration in a series that has trascended playoff games, multiple regions and, most recently different classifications between 5A Timpview and 4A Provo.
But equal credit must go, then, to the Thunderbirds' defense, who knew exactly what was at stake.
"This is supposed to be a rivalry game, and we really don't like these guys," Timpview senior Jalen Namulauti said. "We just came in with that mindset that we're going to take over and we're going to show them who runs this. We did that, but we've got to hold that same mentality through to the end."
JUST US⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Nh85eOmQW5
— Timpview Football (@T_BirdFootball) July 19, 2023
Namulauti opened the second half with a tackle for loss, and teammate Matthew Ellis added a sack on Provo's opening drive to keep the shutout. Casuga then found Pula for a deep touchdown strike to put Timpview (2-1) in front, 14-0 after three quarters.
Tru To'a found the end zone from a yard out with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to 21-0.
The Bulldogs had their fair share of mistakes, too, like a drive that included three straight false starts in the second half and another stalled with a sack on fourth down around the 40-yard line.
But you didn't think it would be that easy, did you? This is, like Namulauti said, still a rivalry game.
Tagai Lesa scored his first touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run to prevent the shutout for Provo with 5:44 remaining.
Lesa did it again on a short plow with 1:07 remaining.
But when the Bulldogs, who had all the confidence of a 2-0 start and last week's thrilling 21-10 road win over Olympus, lined up for the onsides kick, the ball bounced out of bounds.
"I think this type of win really humbles us," Namulauti said. "It sets in our mind that we've got to lock in, and we've got to get to work."
Timpview, which hasn't played at its home stadium due to on-campus construction through Atuaia's first 16 games in charge, next travels to Los Alamitos, California, next Friday before opening 5A Region 7 play at Springville.
Provo hosts Salem Hills next Friday in the 4A Region 8 opener for both teams.
