- American Fork's defense led by Beckham Rees secured a 48-25 win over Timpview.
- Rees had two interceptions aiding the Cavemen's 2-0 season start Aug. 18.
- American Fork's Nate Childs threw three TDs; Timpview remains winless after two games.
AMERICAN FORK — The best friend of an American Fork offense that scored 48 points Friday night against Timpview was the 5-foot-10 senior safety with the No. 6 on his jersey.
Beckham Rees had two interceptions among his three turnovers to help the Cavemen improve to 2-0 with a 48-25 home win over the Thunderbirds.
Nate Childs threw three touchdown passes and ran for another for American Fork, and David Dean and Cash Taiese each added a pair of touchdown grabs in the win.
Childs had little trouble carving up the Thunderbirds' defense early, finding Dean with a 23-yard TD strike on the first drive of the game and doubling the advantage with a 12-yard run with 5:34 left in the first quarter.
"Two great drives to go up 14-0, and maybe a little bit of a let-down," American Fork coach Aaron Behm said. "But the passing game was there, a great running game tonight — much more than last week — and it will be fun to look at."
But Timpview pulled one back when Dennis Tua'one found Wilkerson with a 16-yard strike to the 1-yard that set up a short touchdown, and the dual-threat quarterback/wide receiver caught a 51-yard touchdown from Steele Richards to pull within 21-15 with 6:32 left in the half.
Rees snatched a pair of first-half interceptions, including one that helped set up Dean's second touchdown from 53 yards out with 2:50 left in the half to help the Cavemen to a 28-18 halftime lead.
"I had to catch one like I was a receiver, kind of turn out of it," Rees said of his one of his picks. "We were just trying to keep the momentum going."
But the biggest defensive plays came in the third quarter, when American Fork out-scored the Thunderbirds 14-0. It started with a fumble on the 1-yard line, and four plays later — thanks in large part to a mammoth 86-yard run by Prince Afu — Dyson Richards caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to help the Cavemen begin to pull away.
For Rees, too, who was part of a gang of American Fork defenders that crashed the box on fourth-and-short that set up the first of two touchdowns for sophomore Cash Taiese.
"He's a very instinctual player," Behm said of Rees. "He can play wide open in the secondary, keep things in front of him, and just react to the ball. But that was a great play on that fourth-and-one in the third, where he came up and read the run quick, then came off and made a great tackle."
Taiese's 63-yard scamper for a score after Timpview opened the fourth quarter with a Richards' 70-yard touchdown helped ice the game for good.
American Fork faces unbeaten West next Friday in the first of three-straight road games.
Timpview hosts Lone Peak in the Thunderbirds' home opener after an 0-2 start on the road.
