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OREM — After a home loss to Provo last week, Timpanogos was looking for its second region win over Mountain View.
Thanks to a four touchdown first half by quarterback Andrew Hillstead, the Timberwolves were howling with a 34-24 win over the Bruins.
Timpanogos improved to 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in Region 8 play, while the Bruins fell to 3-4 on the season and 1-3 in region play.
Despite it being a one-sided game through the first half, Timberwolves head coach Austin Heaps said he wanted to see a better effort from his team throughout the game.
"We kind of went into cruise control," Heaps said. "It is a crosstown rivalry and you need to play all four quarters, and we cant let our foot off the gas. We had some mental breaks and had early penalties get us behind the sticks. The defense had three turnovers in the second half and we didn't score on a single one of them. We left a lot of points on the board."
Timpanogos started out its domination in the first half with a one-handed catch in the end zone by senior wideout Jameson Jones, who also was a victim of pass interference on the play.
And then Gabe Graf hauled in a 15-yard reception and absorbed a hit as he caught it, stayed on his feet and walked into the end zone while staring down his defender, putting Timpanogos in the lead 13-7.
The Timberwolves scored two more times in the first half, once on a diving end zone catch and another reception by Graf, to give Timpanogos a 27-10 lead heading into the half.
"We wanted to be aggressive and also do things the right way in the first half," Heaps said. "But then we wanted to be a little classy and start punting instead of going for it on fourth down every time."
But the strategy didn't fully work, and the Bruins took advantage.
Kalvin Floyd brought down a 55-yard reception and took into the end zone, trimming the lead to 10 points late in the third quarter.
Hillstead connected on his fifth and final touchdown on the night in the fourth quarter, giving Timpanogos a 17-point lead to abruptly end the comeback.
Floyd caught one more touchdown pass with five minutes to go, and the Bruins defense forced another Timpanogos punt to give them the ball back with just over three minutes left.
Despite having time, sophomore quarterback Hyrum Stafford threw a pick to Tristan Faatoafe, and the Timberwolves were allowed to run out the clock — including taking a shot in the end zone with 12 seconds left, resulting in a pass interference on the Bruins and a rowdy crowd on the decision to take a shot late in the game.
Timpanogos will host Payson (1-6) next week, while the Bruins will take on Salem Hills (3-4).
