Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Ridgeline defeated Provo 48-22 to advance to the 4A title game.
- Nate Dahle threw four touchdowns including two to Graham Livingston.
- Ridgeline's defense excelled with interceptions returned for touchdowns by Knighton and Sholly.
SALT LAKE CITY — For three straight seasons, Ridgeline's bid for a perfect season took second place, with back-to-back-to-back losses in the 4A semifinals.
Which is why the Riverhawks only celebrated marginally after improving to 13-0 Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
For this senior class, the job's not done.
Nate Dahle connected with BYU commit Graham Livingston for two of his four touchdowns, and Hunter Knighton and Hunter Sholly each added an interception returned for a touchdown to help Ridgeline cruise past Provo 48-22 to advance to the 4A title game for the first time since winning it all in 2021.
"He's the most underrated guy in the world," Livingston said of Dahle, the Eastern Washington commit who threw for 284 with four touchdowns and an interception. "And our O-line. All of our coaches got us open, schemed it well — we're so lucky."
Gehrig Orchard's 5-yard touchdown strike to Ronnie Wright helped Provo keep even with top-seeded Ridgeline trough the first quarter.
But the Riverhawks (13-0) put their foot on the gas in the second — and they did it with defense.
Knighton returned one of two first-half interceptions 27 yards for a touchdown as part of a 28-0 second-quarter run that turned a 7-7 stalemate into 35-7 rout at the break.
Dahle completed 19-of-26 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns, shrugging off an interception on the opening drive to find Krew Jones, Livingston and Owen Leishman with scores of 2, 16 and 9 yards, respectively.
"We started a little slow on offense, and our defense just got us going," Livingston said. "They really helped us out and got us going. In the second half, we kept the pedal down; we know what we want to achieve and we keep it going."
Defensively, the Riverhawks held Provo to 2-of-6 on third down and accumulated a pair of sacks to go along with the two picks.
Dahle connected with Livingston from 40 yards out with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, Hunter Sholly returned the Riverhawks' third interception 73 yards for a touchdown to open the fourth with a 48-14 lead.
Success on the back end came from success on the front end, where Ridgeline's defensive line and linebackers pressured Orchard all through Provo's first state semifinal appearance since 1999.
"Our linebackers drop really well, and that's one of the things we teach them early and they are really good at getting in," Ridgeline coach Travis Cox said. "But I thought the key was Krew and Coen (Richards) getting a lot of pressure up front, making the quarterbacks force it more than they wanted to, making them run, throw off platform. I thought the pressure on the quarterback was key."
There was no fluke to this one. Ridgeline has fended off all-takers, including shutting out eventual 5A semifinalist Brighton 41-0 back in August.
The Riverhawks will certainly be the team to beat in next Thursday's 4A championship against the winner of Crimson Cliffs and Green Canyon.
"We've got to run the ball better," Cox said. "The fact of the matter is, we didn't run the ball well and we've got to figure that out over the weekend."
Orchard completed 16-of-31 passes for with three interceptions and two touchdowns. Lincoln Dansie and Teave Brown each ran for 46 yards on the ground for the Bulldogs (8-5).
