Timpview football won a nail-biter at Rice Eccles yesterday as they played in the semi-finals against the Olympus Titans,
Timpview kicked first forcing Olympus to punt, With multiple connections from Helaman Casuga to Tei Nacua on the first drive, they capped it off with a 12-yard pass from Casuga to Nacua. 6-0. Olympus would bounce back with a 19-yard touchdown pass of their own. 6-7 Olympus. Timpview would score once more before the end of the first quarter on a 2 yard touchdown run by Quezon Villa to retake the lead for the Thunderbirds, 13-7. Olympus then at the beginning of the 2nd quarter found themselves on Timpviews 8 yard line, hoping to retake the lead they handed it to their running back Jacob Brown, but a forced fumble by Jacob Rust and a fumble recovery by Grady Gregory stopped those hopes. “ My teammates made a great play on the ball, and I was just in the right place at the right time.” said Gregory. A fumble at Olympus’ goalline from the T-birds would have them going into half with the same score 13-7.
A pretty uneventful 3rd quarter ended with a shifty 12 yard touchdown run by Tru To’a of the T-birds making it 19-7. A Turnover on downs for timpview at the Olympus goal line would lead to a huge touchdown drive by the Titans with 5 and a half minutes left. With about 3 minutes left in the ball game the Titans got the ball back and quickly scored on a double pass play from Luke Bryant to Caden Lloyd. Olympus is up 20-19, with 2 and a half minutes left. The Timpview crowd is restless and worried, but the players weren’t. The Timpview offense lead methodically by Helaman Casuga and Tei Nacua marched down the field, setting up a game winning field goal opportunity for the sophomore kicker Luke Thornock, Thornock previously missed an extra point and a field goal this game. But he wouldn’t miss this one. As time expired Quezon Villa had the hold and Luke Thornock with the perfect kick. The kick that sends Timpview into its 2nd consecutive state championship. We had Tei Nacua give us his thoughts on the last drive of the game, he said, “I was just waiting for the opportunity to shine.” Nacua had an outstanding performance with 13 catches for 195 yards and 1 touchdown. “I believed in my team and in our offensive line, we do this all the time in practice and practice makes perfect.” Said Nacua.
The T-birds have the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done in this town for 9 years, Win a state Championship, “It is a great opportunity and we aren’t going to take it for granted.” Said Gregory. Timpview plays in the state championship against the Bountiful Redhawks on Nov. 17 at 6:30 PM. Be their to witness history.
