Dons Hold Off Thunder To Reach First Championship Game

Rice-Eccles Stadium was the venue for the Utah High School Semi-Final game between Spanish Fork and Desert Hills. Both teams had reached this point a year ago but fell short of their championship aspirations. Looking to reach new heights both teams put out an excellent effort and what turned into a great football game.

 

After being stalemated on their first drive the Thunder went 98-yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. The catalyst of the drive was this 47-yard run and was capped off on a 38-yard scoring pass.

                                    

Spanish Fork responded with a scoring drive of their. Aided by a personal foul on the Thunder defense the Dons drove 80-yards and scored on a 20-yard pass to tie the game at 7 on the first play of the second quarter.

Midway through the second quarter Desert Hills scored on a 10-yard touchdown scramble to break the tie.

The Thunder struck (sorry couldn't help it) again on their next series, a 42-yard bomb to go up 21-7.

Trailing by fourteen late in the second quarter Spanish Fork looked to be in dire straights. Spanish Fork's sophomore QB Jason Money played beyond his age orchestrating a perfect 2-minute drill with four completions on four attempts totaling 63-yards. His play set up 16-yard draw play to bring the game to 21-14 score.

 

Spanish Fork kicked off to start the second half. The kicked was short and high and landed amidst several players. I think what happened was the Thunder blockers treated it like a punt and stayed away from the ball until they realized a hair too late that the ball is live on a kickoff. Spanish Fork got to the ball first. The Dons scored on the first play from scrimmage in the second half tying the game at 21. In less the two minutes of play Desert Hills went from leading by 14 to being tied up.

The Thunder offense stalled out on its first possession of the second half. The Don offense was red hot and looking to gain its first lead of the game. The Desert Hills defense needed a big play and made it happen with this interception.

A short field couldn't fix the Thunder's offensive problems. They tried a field goal which was blocked but given another shot when the refs ruled a time-out had been taken. The second attempt sailed wide left leaving the Thunder empty handed once again.

Spanish Fork took advantage of the Thunder miscue driving down the field for another touchdown to take a 28-21 lead on the last play of the 3rd quarter.

It was do or die time for the Thunder. They needed to stem tide after giving up 21 unanswered points. They proved they didn't make the long drive from St. George to roll over when faced with adversity. They responded in a big way driving 67-yards and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown plunge to tie the ball game.

The Thunder defense came up with another huge stop. Giving the offense the ball with just over 5-minutes left in the game and a chance to take back the lead. Disaster struck the Thunder (sorry again) on their first play of the drive the Dons picked off the Desert Hills pass.

The Dons started with great field position and capitalized on the opportunity punching the ball in from 2-yards out.

The Thunder ended up turning the ball over on downs allowing Spanish Fork to advance to the State Championship Game for the first time in school history.

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A highlight video can be found on YouTube.