Orem wins 'battle' with West, advances to 5A quarterfinals – Deseret News

Orem found a way to beat West 35-27 late Friday night in the second round of the 5A state playoffs, managing just enough to top the Panthers.

The teams battled back and forth and traded tough blows in the fourth quarter before the Tigers got their first stop down the court and ultimately secured the win.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Orem head coach Lance Reynolds said. “Not everything went according to our expectations. We knew it was going to be a struggle at the beginning.”

The Orem defense faltered a bit as the Panthers got the ball one last time after three consecutive touchdown drives. However, the Tigers stood strong when it mattered most, forcing a turnover on downs to secure the school a spot in the quarterfinals.

“We had them on the sideline (and) challenged them a little bit,” Reynolds said of his defense before making the game-saving finish. “They stepped up and made a great play on fourth down.”

The way the second half started, it didn't seem like the Tigers would need a big play at the end to emerge victorious.

Orem began to pull away after halftime, taking a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter while holding West to one touchdown up to that point.

But the Panthers wouldn't go down that easily. West countered the Tigers' scores with three touchdown drives offset by a Tigers home run, bringing the Panthers within one point to 28-27 after a successful two-point conversion, followed by two failed conversion attempts.

Orem promptly extended its lead back to eight with a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Tayden Ka'awa to senior running back Ryker Mikkelsen with 4:26 to play. West then drove to the Tigers' 12-yard line before being blocked by the Orem defense.

A few kneels later, the Tigers had held on and stopped the Panthers' furious comeback.

All told, the two teams combined to score nearly half of the game's points in the fourth quarter. When asked to summarize the back-and-forth final minutes of the game, Reynolds described it in one word.

“Emotionally,” he said. “My voice has almost disappeared. … There were a lot of ups and downs, but man, (our team) fought.”

The season ends for West, which finishes with a 6-6 record and a second straight season ending in the second round of the state tournament.

Orem will continue its postseason play next Friday when it travels down the road to face Region 7 rival and No. 4 seed Timpview in a rematch of a game played two and a half weeks ago.

The Thunderbirds outscored the Tigers by two touchdowns in their last meeting, but Reynolds likes his team's chances.

“I was pretty happy with that performance,” he said of the previous competition. “Now we just need to sort out a few things and I think we can give them a good game.”

Kickoff next Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m