Provo football defeats Uintah to win Region 8 title | News, Sports, Jobs

Brian E. Preece, Herald Special Reporter

VERNAL — Provo clinched the 4A Region 8 soccer title with an easy 63-27 victory over the Uintah Utes on the road Thursday night.

The Bulldogs scored early and often and dominated the home team on Senior Night, winning their sixth straight game.

The driving force behind this winning streak, which led to their second straight league title, was quarterback Gehrig Orchard. The junior was forced to sit out after second-year starter Soakai Ashton decided to transfer to Timpview. There was a bit of a learning curve as Provo lost its first two games to 5A teams Brighton and Olympus, but once Orchard settled in, the Bulldog offense started to take off.

Orchard has thrown five touchdowns in each of Provo’s past two wins.

“I’m really grateful to the coaches for believing in me,” Orchard said. “We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the season, but we just got better and better every game, every practice, and we really worked hard. It helped me too.”

Brian E. Preece, Herald Special Reporter

Provo head coach Kirk Chambers agreed that Orchard’s consistently improving play is paramount to the Bulldogs’ winning streak and winning the region trophy.

“Mr. Gehrig is doing a lot of great things,” Chambers said. “He’s moving well in the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, and his accuracy has really made a difference in the last six games.”

In this winning streak, Provo has scored 35, 37, 48, 47, 46 points and currently has 63 points, showing a great arsenal of offensive talent. In fact, in the game against Uintah, five different players scored the first five Bulldog touchdowns of the game.

Provo running back Ollie McKay started the first quarter with a 1-yard run for 28 points, followed by Orchard with Bryant Larsen (23 yards), Crew DeMartini (19 yards) and Ronnie Wright. He completed three touchdown tosses (17 yards). , then Malik Philomoethu scored another TD on the ground with a 13-yard scamper.

Uintah’s Deis Obagy still had a great kickoff return, eventually making a 97-yard shot to pay dirt to cut Provo’s lead to 28-7.

Brian E. Preece, Herald Special Reporter

However, Provo gained momentum with Griffin DeMartini completing two touchdown passes of 11 and 26 yards and two more scores in the first half. Kesten Ussery had a 3-yard run for Uintah, but Uinta still led 49-13 at the break.

After McKay’s four-run touchdown run, the Bulldogs ran home 51 yards, and both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter. This gave Provo a 36 point lead and the running clock rule started. So after both teams scored a total of 90 points in the third quarter, neither team was able to score in the final period.

Provo’s defense also had some good moments.

In the first quarter, Teev Brown and Mason Gregory recovered fumbles to start Provo’s attack inside the Utes’ territory.

Special teams’ Jonah Luthri then scored all nine extra points, helping Provo grab a 36-point lead and giving the Bulldogs a chance to go home a little early on a school night.

The success and regional title that Provo won came as no surprise to Chambers, as he believed he had the talent even after some struggles early in the season.

“We knew we were a good team since summer camp when we played against other teams at SUU,” Chambers said. “We always felt like this team had a chance to do something special. The regional championship is something special and we’re excited about it.”

Provo (5-0, 6-2) still has one league game remaining as it faces Mountain View (1-4, 3-6) on Senior Night on Wednesday, but the Uintahs (6-3, 2- 3) ends. The regular season at Payson also ends Wednesday. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.