High school football: Defense makes the difference as Orem hands Maple Mountain its first loss of the season

After giving up 60 points a week ago in a loss to Sky View, Orem responded by taking down previously unbeaten Maple Mountain 30-28 Friday in a Region 7 battle.

Following the setback last Friday, Tigers head coach Lance Reynolds Jr. talked to his father, a longtime assistant coach at BYU, looking for answers to help his defense play better in its big matchup with the Golden Eagles.

“He had some good advice, which I used,” Reynolds said, “but one of the things that we really did was we didn’t overreact. … He said, ‘One of the things we’ve done in the past that was a mistake was overreacting, revamping a whole bunch of stuff, and now you’re kind of starting from scratch in a lot of ways.’ …We didn’t change much. We just said, ‘This is what we do, and we’re going to get good at it, and we’re going to be better than we were,’ and man, did (the defense) step up when we needed it.”

Reynolds’ defense made the difference on the scoreboard in the third quarter after a Maple Mountain interception placed the ball at the Golden Eagles 2 yard line.

Down 21-7, the Tigers took advantage of a Maple Mountain snap miscue, pressuring the Golden Eagles to step out of the back of the end zone for an Orem safety.

“The safety was huge,” Reynolds said. “They had an errant snap, and then we were on it, so that was a big play.”

From there, the Tigers took over the game, scoring a touchdown four plays later before forcing a turnover on the Golden Eagles’ next possession to set up the Orem offense 12 yards away from the goal line.

The Tigers needed just two plays to punch it in and take their first lead of the night.

“We got that momentum,” Reynolds said. “All of us on the sidelines were going, ‘I don’t think they’ll be able to take that momentum back. We’re going to roll with this.’ … It wasn’t perfect, but we did maintain it.”

With 1:21 left in the third quarter, that momentum kept propelling the Tigers when junior wide receiver and kicker Kaue Akana hauled in his third touchdown catch from junior quarterback Tayden Ka’awa before kicking his fourth successful extra point to put the Tigers up by two possessions.

Reynolds was not surprised by his team’s decisive third quarter explosion.

“We’re definitely a second half team, even though I would love to be a full game team,” he said. “Our team has a lot of heart. … So I think when they start to feel that (pressure), it’s almost like they need that to spur them on.”

After taking the lead, Orem was able to hold on, giving up a touchdown in the waning minutes of the game and coming up with a Golden Eagles’ onside kick that was up for grabs in the middle of a dogpile while referees got to the bottom of things.

The Tigers’ win puts them in a two-way tie with Timpview for first place in the Region 7 standings.

Both Orem and Maple Mountain will resume play next Friday. The Tigers will face Cedar Valley, while the Golden Eagles return home for a contest against Springville.