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SALT LAKE CITY — Almost exactly a year ago to the day, West suffered a 7-point loss on the road to American Fork. A year later, the two sides met again, this time on the Panthers' turf with vengeance on the mind of quarterback Isaiah Su'esu'e.
Yet that vengeance seemed to dissipate for the Panthers after a pick-six score in the second quarter. That's when quarterback Dylan Story and the Cavemen took advantage to claim a 45-21 win.
In the Panthers' first in-state game of the season, the game didn't start off like the team hoped. Story connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass, and then Dax Watts escaped up the middle on a 4-yard rushing score to give the Cavemen a 14-0 lead with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter.
The two-score deficit lit a fire under West, and the team marched down the field and got running back Kelvan Malepeai into the end zone (with a Cavemen defender on his back) for the team's first score of the night to closeout the opening quarter.
And in the second quarter, West added to the comeback when Chachi Pan leveled up the score on a pick six.
American Fork didn't look the same after the pick with a disheveled Story who couldn't quite find anyone on his throws that were a bit off. Nevertheless, Story didn't lose sight and came up big on a third-down throw from his own 32-yard line on a toss to Davis Andrews that resulted in a 68-yard touchdown to put the Cavemen up 21-14.
West came out of the half trailing by 10 and looked ready to fight back after a 60-yard kickoff return that put them at American Forks 40-yard line. But the Panthers turned the ball over shortly after on downs, and the downfall began.
American Fork added 14 more points off a 6-yard pass from Story to Andrews for his second touchdown of the night, and minutes later, Watts, once again, ran into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night, as well.
A slow down in the game came after Story got his fourth touchdown of the night to give American Fork a 45-14 lead, and the West High stands started to clear.
The Panthers still had some fight left in them, though, and Su'esu'e threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Pan, who was a singular bright spot for the Panthers throughout the game. But it wasn't enough to contend with a better American Fork team in the second half.
