SPANISH FORK — Garret Blanthorn rushed for three touchdowns in Maple Mountain’s Class 4A football playoff opener Saturday against Provo.

But with the game on the line, all he could do was watch and trust in his defense to make a play.

Trust rewarded.

Karter Shaw picked off Provo quarterback Spencer Jorgensen on the 1-yard line to clinch Maple Mountain’s first playoff victory in school history, 27-20 in a home game Saturday afternoon.

“I just felt it coming and made a play on the ball,” said Shaw, who was called for pass interference defending the same play earlier in the drive. “It was exciting, it was close, and he probably would’ve been in the end zone if I didn’t get there.

“I got up with it in my arms, so I just threw it up and started running to the sidelines. It was crazy; I didn’t know what was going on for a while.”

After opening the season with five-straight losses including a 15-12 loss to 3A North Sanpete, the Golden Eagles (6-5) won their sixth-straight game with their first playoff win in school history.

“It feels good to win with all that work,” Blanthorn said while swaying from exhaustion after the game. “I know I’m part of the game plan, and I just try to make plays for the team like everyone else. Karter Shaw’s pick at the end was a big play.”

Maple Mountain’s defense forced the Bulldogs to punt on three of their first four possessions, with the other ending in Harrison Casper’s interception. Blanthorn scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9-yard rush six minutes into the second quarter as the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 lead.

But Jorgensen found Tavita Ika for an 11-yard TD strike just before the half, and the Bulldogs (7-5) trailed 20-7 at the break.

The third quarter belonged to Provo. Braiden Lovell knocked down a 30-yard field goal to pull the Bulldogs within 20-10 on their first drive of the second half, and Jorgensen hit Washington commit Ty Jones with a 19-yard touchdown to close the quarter down three, 20-17.

Lovell scored his second field goal of the game from 34 yards out to tie the score with 4:13 remaining.

“We knew Provo was good, how they have a lot of weapons, and we just wanted to slow them down,” Maple Mountain coach Brad Burtenshaw said. “I thought the boys played really well in the first half, and Provo made some adjustments in the first half. But we had to make a play to win the game, either side.

“We’ve relied on our defense all year to make plays when we needed to.”

Dawson Beutler, who started the day sick but started at cornerback, returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to Provo’s 20-yard line, and Blanthorn rushed in for his third touchdown of the game just two minutes later to take a 27-20 lead.

“We’ve relied on him all season, so it wasn’t a big surprise to us,” Shaw said of Blanthorn. “He’s worked harder than anyone on our team. But we all had to step up and make plays on this one.”

Provo had one more shot to send the playoff game into overtime. After holding on for a win over Skyridge in the Region 7 play-in game Tuesday afternoon, Jorgensen used two big runs to bring the Bulldogs to the 15-yard line in the final minute.

That’s when Shaw guessed the route, hopped in front of a quick pass over the middle, and pulled down a pick on the one-yard line to seal the victory.

The Region 8 second-seeded Golden Eagles will take a six-game win streak into next Friday, when they host fourth-seeded Box Elder at 4 p.m. with a place in the 4A semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the line.

The Bees stunned Region 6 champion Olympus in double overtime late Friday night.

“We’ve had a rough year,” Burtenshaw said. “We started rough, made some mistakes, and a lot of the games we lost at the beginning of the year were a tight game. It’s a tribute to the kids and their resiliency. They never had their heads down, never had to be motivated in practice. They just knew what their goals were, and kept fighting towards it. It’s a fantastic job by the kids.”

Springville 42, Orem 17 — At Springville, Brennan Rymer secured two interceptions and added a TD reception to help the undefeated Red Devils pull away from the Tigers in a first-round playoff game.

Springville (10-0) will host Woods Cross at 4 p.m. Friday in a 4A quarterfinal.

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