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OREM — Friday night may have been Timpanogos' homecoming football game, but Oliver Mackay and visiting Provo made themselves right at home.
Mackay ran for 227 yards and four touchdowns as the Bulldogs overcame an early 14-0 deficit with 35 unanswered points for a 48-35 win.
Gehrig Orchard completed 17-of-26 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs in their third straight win. Bryant Larsen caught five passes for 72 yards and a touchdown, and Griffin DeMartini added two catches for 71 yards including a 59-yard touchdown for Provo (3-2, 2-0 Region 8).
"Nothing against Timpanogos, but I was kind of excited to ruin somebody's homecoming. I kind of wanted to spoil that a little bit," said Mackay, who also caught two passes for 35 yards. "But big credit to the O-line. They just kept going and churning; they're the real heroes. They're the ones that got me in the end zone."
Timpanogos started strong, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes by Andrew Hillstead to Gabriel Graf and Jameson Jones.
"We felt a little flat coming out of the locker room," Mackay said. "But once we all got hit, they got two touchdowns, and we really knew we were here to play."
Provo pulled one back through Malik Filimoeatu's 2-yard run to end the first quarter, and the Bulldogs were back in business.
Timpanogos held Orchard to 63 passing yards until he nearly doubled it with 59-yard touchdown to Griffin DeMartini that tied the game at 14-14 with 4:19 left in the first half.
After a turnover on downs, Orchard hit Bryant Larsen with a 45-yard rip with 19 seconds on the clock to give Provo a 21-14 halftime lead.
Mackay had 115 yards on 17 carries in the first half. But he really got going after the break.
Coaches like to refer to two running backs in the back field as "thunder" and "lightning," and Provo coach Kirk Chambers is no different. But on Friday night, Mackay was both.
"He's just fighting for those extra yards and getting us first downs, which was huge," Chambers said. "We're pretty excited with what he's doing.
"Oliver in space is pretty dangerous. He's a shifty guy that will go down the field and make plays."
The 5-foot-10 senior who averaged 5.61 yards per carry with seven touchdowns entering Friday night capped the Bulldogs' first drive of the second half with a 2-yard touchdown with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter.
Mackay cashed in DeMartini's interception for an 8-yard score to cap a 35-0 run that put Provo up 35-14.
Hillstead pulled one back with a 1-yard quarterback sneak, but Mackay completed his hat trick with a 38-yard blitz down the east sideline, dodging a tackle before sprinting into the corner of the end zone with 1:02 left in the third to stretch the visitors' lead to 42-21.
Dash McCann broke free to pull for a 45-yard touchdown to cap a late 14-0 spurt that pulled the Timberwolves within a score, 42-35 with 7:40 to go.
But Mackay helped seal the win with a 4-yard touchdown, and DeMartini had back-to-back tackles for loss on Timpanogos backup quarterback Logan Holloway to give Orchard the keys to victim formation for the Bulldogs' third consecutive win after opening with back-to-back losses to a pair of 5A schools, as well as a canceled game by crosstown rival Timpview.
"We started the year young," Chambers said. "We started two sophomores on the offensive line who have grown a lot in these four or five weeks. I think that's helped a lot. We've got a lot of guys we were counting on to make plays who are still figuring things out. I think there's been a bit of a learning curve that some young men go through, and that's OK.
"We're getting ready — and by the way, Olympus and Brighton are two pretty darn good teams, too. But we felt like we were competing with those teams, and we have all the respect for Salem, for Juab and for Timpanogos. Our offense really stepped up big time to match them score-for-score."
Like his coach, Mackay admitted "it was a tough start" before the Bulldogs found their groove and improving to 2-0 in region play before next week's home game against Payson.
"We had a lot of new guys coming in, and we had a really good summer camp, so we were really high coming into the season," Mackay said. "But two big losses at home really hurt the morale. But I think the biggest thing was the Timpview (cancellation); that was a hard situation for me, especially, but for the whole football team. The next week, we had a really good practice and it's been amazing ever since that game got canceled."
Hillstead completed 22-of-43 passes for 341 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Timpanogos (4-2, 1-2 Region 8). Graf caught 12 passes for 146 yards with his touchdown, and Jones made six catches for 128 yards and a score.
