AMERICAN FORK — An 18-play, 73-yard drive with three third-down conversions that took 9 minutes and 16 seconds off the clock to begin the first quarter yielded zero points for the Farmington High football team.

Some might have seen that as an opportunity lost or a disappointment, especially on the road and in the cold against the No. 4 American Fork Cavemen in Friday’s 6A state quarterfinals.

That drive, though, gave the Phoenix and its 150-pound sophomore running back confidence it could move the ball against a Region 4 powerhouse and play with the Cavemen (8-4).

It was just the start of what turned out to be one of the biggest wins in Farmington’s fledgling, five-year history.

In a 19-3 defensive clinic with three interceptions, multiple sacks and multiple stops, the No. 5 Phoenix advanced to its first state semifinal in school history by upsetting the No. 4 Cavemen.

“This game, we made a point that we had to come out on fire hitting kids, and that’s what we did. Of course, the scoreboard showed that’s what we did,” senior linebacker Luke Hansen said. “They might be bigger than us, but we’re faster than them. That’s what we’ve got going. We’re not scared of anything, we don’t care. I don’t care if he’s 6-6, 380, I’m going to go the same speed if he’s 5-10, 200.”

Hansen picked off two passes — all three of Farmington’s picks came on the first play of AF drives, with Dayton Runyan having the third — and made a crucial tackle on a fake punt attempt to give FHS the ball back.

Hansen wrestled his second interception away from AF’s Josh Andrus and suffered some sort of right shoulder injury that caused him visible discomfort after the game, but nothing could dampen Farmington’s (10-2) mood.

“We’re feeling great,” Hansen said. “Our run game was working, our pass game was working, defense was stopping them. I don’t know what better you could ask for, maybe get a few more scores. Against some better teams, we’ll need to for sure. But hey, we’re rolling.”

Senior defensive end Jed Judkins made two sacks and blocked a punt, which was his fifth (yes, fifth) blocked punt of the season. One of the sacks came on a three-man rush.

“I think we just knew if we did what we know how to do, keep the calls simple and everyone do their job, we knew we could stop them and most likely shut them out,” Judkins said. “I think today we had nothing to lose and just came out fast, ready to play.”

On the defensive side, Farmington held a team to single-digit scoring for the fifth time this season. American Fork’s drives went punt, punt, punt, end of the first half, punt, punt, interception, interception, field goal, interception.

“That’s been our D all year, our defense has been our backbone,” Farmington coach Daniel Coats said. “Me being an offensive coach it hurts to say from time to time, but they have made it so easy for play calls because I know they have my back no matter what.”

For the second straight game, Farmington leaned on its 5-foot-7, 150-pound sophomore running back Travis Hoopes.

He had nine carries on the first drive alone, which ended in a missed field goal, and 24 for the game with an unofficial tally of 98 yards.

Hoopes had two touchdown runs, each from 1 yard out. He took several big hits, had to jog off the field, slowly a couple times, and felt sore afterward.

But he, like everyone else wearing white, couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“This is one of the greatest feelings you’ll ever feel in your life, this is what you dream of every night,” Hoopes said.

His first score came after the blocked punt and Farmington took a 6-0 lead — the extra point was blocked — to halftime. It forced a punt on AF’s first second-half possession.

Then, Farmington went ahead 12-0 after a seven-play, 87-yard drive when Easton Wight found Adam Stucki for a 12-yard passing touchdown on fourth-and-4. The drive was set up by a 57-yard pass play to tight end Mitch Nielsen.

After an AF three-and-out, Farmington’s next drive started at the Cavemen 39-yard line. Hoopes plunged in from 1 yard out to make the score 19-0 with just six seconds left in the third quarter.

Nineteen points was enough on this day, but the Phoenix could’ve easily had more and may need more when it faces No. 1 Corner Canyon at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Twice, Farmington intercepted AF quarterback Lincoln Jackson and returned it to the red zone, where AF’s defense got fourth-down stops both times.

Since 2018, the Utah County-based Region 4 has dominated the state and Region 1 as well. Region 4 teams were a combined 22-5 against Region 1 coming into Friday (Syracuse had four of the Region 1 wins and Farmington had the other).

American Fork specifically hadn’t lost to a Davis County school since 2011. So not only was the win a sweet feeling for Farmington, which had lost its previous two state quarterfinals in 2019 and 2021, but for the region as well, which will have a semifinal representative in consecutive years.

Farmington may have missed out on the Region 1 championship a couple weeks ago, but it has 10 wins in a season and a trip to Rice-Eccles Stadium for the first time.

“All year I kept telling them we just need a chance, so we got to push ourselves to get a chance at Rice-Eccles and from there, magic can happen,” Coats said.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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