SPANISH FORK — Spanish Fork drained the last five minutes off the clock Friday night and drained the life out of Pine View’s season.
Ahead by five, the Dons converted three key third downs into first downs and milked the last minutes off the clock to defeat Pine View 26-21 in the first round of the 3A State Playoffs.
“We just couldn’t get a stop at then end when we really needed it,” Panthers defensive coordinator Brett Gifford said. “We’re still in disbelief. That’s a great Spanish Fork team and they made some great plays tonight.”
The two teams battled to a 14-14 stalemate in the first half, with Pine View getting scores from Cameron Hughes (on a 9-yard pass from Kody Wilstead) and Prentiss Miller (4-yard run) and Spanish Fork getting TDs from Colton Olsen (on a 24-yard pick six) and Cameron Money (on a 24-yard pass from his cousin, Jason).
But the Panthers offense stalled in the second half, allowing the Dons to push it to a 26-14 lead after a pair of TDs by running back Braxton Argyle (45 and 4 yards).
Still, Pine View hung tough and got some stops defensively, setting up Miller’s second touchdown of the game with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, Pine View would never get the ball back as the Dons offense squeezed the ball for the last minutes of the game.
“I’m really proud of these kids, especially these seniors,” Gifford said. “They never gave up, even when things weren’t going the best for us.”
Pine View, which finishes the season 7-4, got another 100-plus yard game from Miller and got a huge defensive effort from defensive lineman Wes Moeai.
“Wes made some huge plays tonight,” Gifford said. “He had a couple of key stops that got us the ball back so we could make it close. He’s another one of those seniors that gave their all for us. Plus they are all great kids.”
The 10-1 Dons advance to play Morgan in the state quarterfinals.
It was the second time in four years the Dons have knocked Pine View out of the playoffs.
Boxscore: pvsf12
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