American Fork Cruises Past Herriman in Landslide Win
The American Fork Cavemen(Home) sailed past the Herriman Mustangs(Away) in their Friday night domination with a final score of 56 - 6. The Mustangs could just not find a way to slow down American Fork’s fierce offense. It didn’t help them on the other side of the field where the Cavemen’s physical defense had them shut down the whole game.
The Cavemen were looking to extend their season-opening winning streak to 5-0. When asked what they wanted to do coming into this game, Head Coach Aaron Behm said, “Our game plan was to come out and move the ball on offense, and on defense, we felt like we could really get after the quarterback.”
Shortly into the first quarter, American Fork Quarterback, Maddog Madsen led his team down the field, tossing pass after to pass, looking to start the game off on the right foot. This resulted in Madsen tossing his first of seven touchdowns, which was a sweet 15-yard dime to Tight End, Garrison Grimes.
Right after, the American Fork defense showed out and forced Herriman to punt, but Herriman responded quickly forcing them to punt right back. This is where the story changes… a little. Tamamalosi Burningham and Gabe Shipley forced a Herriman fourth and long inside their own red zone when they caught the quarterback for a sack, which resulted in... another punt! Madsen was sick of these little back and forth possessions, so he decided to make a statement by tossing a 30-yard pass to Fisher Ingersoll. Just as things started to look back up for the offensive side of the field, Madsen got a little antsy and his second attempt down deep was picked off by Cornerback, Michael Falatea. That little exchange finished off the first quarter.
Opening up the second quarter, Sam Hafen shot right back with a Caveman interception. This set up Garrison Grimes for his second touchdown reception of the game, putting American Fork up 14 - 0. After a few punts and such, the ball came back to American Fork. Grimes decided he wasn’t ready to be done yet so he helped get the offense a first down with two receptions in a row. Shortly after, Wide Receiver Tate Smith made a circus catch bobbling the ball three to four times before finally reeling it in at the 7-yard line to set up Madsen for his third touchdown pass of the game, which was a remarkable catch by Fisher Ingersoll off of a tipped pass.
After a few missed opportunities, the Caveman forced Herriman to punt. If you have been following American Fork at all this season, you know they like taking shots after punts. Such as throwing 50-60 yard touchdown bombs to Ingersoll. Well, guess what, that is exactly what happened. In fact, you know what, go a few minutes later and hit repeat because it happened again, this time to Noah Moeaki.
You would probably assume that American Fork couldn’t possibly score again because there was only a minute or two left in the first half and Herriman had possession, but you would be wrong. You can thank the Cavemen defense because they forced their second fumble of the night. Instantly they took a few shots down the field, which set them up for ANOTHER Madsen to Grimes touchdown connection. That would lead us into the half.
The score at the end of the first half was 42 - 0. Cavemen.
Herriman did a little more to stop American Fork in the second half, holding them to only two more touchdowns. One of which came in the third, and the other in the fourth. Both worthy of mention. The first one was back to back touchdown passes to Ingersoll(the first one was overturned because of a penalty). The second one was a beautiful fake handoff by American Fork's backup quarterback, Ryan Evans, who took it himself and finished it by diving past the pylon. The Mustangs knew they couldn’t be held scoreless though, so they made sure to finish out the game with a beautiful 26-yard touchdown pass from Jack White to Michael Falatea. This Falatea dude was all over the place making big plays for Herriman on both sides of the field!
After the game, Coach Behm had high praise for Tight End Garrison Grimes and Kicker PJ Nettenshein. “Tonight Garrison Grimes did a good job.” Grimes put on a clinic, receiving for 3 touchdowns on only 38 yards. That is what I call efficient! Behm also pointed out how Nettenshein did a great job filling in on kickoffs(their starter got injured the night before) and how he was 7 for 7 on PAT attempts. Another standout player he mentioned was Brendon Bourgeois. Here is what he had to say about him and the D, “Our defense played extremely physical. Brendon Bourgeois did a great job. He forced two, maybe three fumbles that helped keep the momentum in the football game.”
Coming into this game Herriman needed to prove themselves against one of the best teams in the state. Most expected them to put up a good fight, but unfortunately for Mustang fans, that was not the case. They knew it was going to be a tough game. That’s what you expect going into a game against one of the top teams, if not the best, only behind Corner Canyon. Herriman is still recovering from the Mountain Ridge split, so there was little doubt that they would have one of their few losing seasons, but the Mustangs have shown that they are competitors no matter the situation. While this may not be your year Herriman fans, you guys have a lot to look forward to in the future!
American Fork has shown how dominant on both sides of the field they are these last few games. Especially with Maddog Madsen once again showing why he is arguably the best quarterback in the state, throwing for 291 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 1 interception. The Caveman QB had a lot of pressure on him after putting on a game for the ages last week, but he surely lived up to all of the hype putting up star-studded numbers. In fact, he is currently on pace along with Corner Canyon’s Quarterback, Jaxon Dart, to break the single-season touchdown record in Utah. What a year for quarterbacks!!
After these last few games though, one thing is for sure. You can not miss next week's American Fork vs Skyridge game. Both teams have been playing great and each is headed into it at 5-0, so the hype for this game is unreal. You won't want to miss that game!