Provo • Timpview found itself down a touchdown at the end of the first quarter in Friday's matchup against Alta.

The Thunderbirds found themselves down two scores in the middle of the second period. Then, as Timpview coach Louis Wong put it, his team decided to "show some heart and play harder."

The results were tangible.

With a 41-27 win over Alta, the Thunderbirds showed just why a Class 4A state title for this program is more of a rite of passage than a mere hope or a goal. Timpview dominated the second half. It ran the ball whenever and wherever it wanted. It balanced that out with an explosive passing game, and the defense held the Hawks to seven points after halftime.

"We just needed to minimalize our mistakes," Wong said. "We switched from a zone on defense to man-to-man, and we thought that we just needed to play a little bit better and make better adjustments."

Because they made the correct adjustments, these are two teams heading in opposite directions. The Thunderbirds are 3-0 on the season, and looking like prohibitive favorites to win their fifth consecutive Class 4A championship. On the other side, Alta is 0-3. And while those three losses have been to three of the best teams in the state, (Cottonwood and Bingham are the other two), the Hawks have turned the ball over too much and are having serious problems stopping the run.

"It's been the story of our season so far," Alta coach Les Hamilton said. "We just haven't been able to finish. We knew coming into this game that we needed to score 35 points to win. But we didn't get it done. But we'll bounce back."

Alta held leads of 6-0 and 20-6.

The turning point, however, came just before halftime, when the Thunderbirds drove the length of the field and scored when Christian Covey threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Josey Trammell.

From there, the Thunderbird offense kicked into high gear. Covey started the second half with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Josh Warner.

Bryson Mckenzie scored on a touchdown run, and Covey threw yet another touchdown pass to enable Timpview to take control. The clincher came with a minute remaining, when Gregson Aspinall scored on a two-yard run to provide the final score.

"We accomplished a lot tonight," Wong said. "It's a tremendous accomplishment to hold a team as good as Alta to seven points in the second half."

Kaipo Hurtt of the Thunderbirds made a big impact defensively with a pair of interceptions.

Taylor Eyring, an outstanding senior running back for Alta, led the Hawks with three touchdown runs.

tjones@sltrib.com —

Highlights

R Timpview outscores Alta 27-7 in the second half.

• The Hawks start the season 0-3.

• The Thunderbirds make a huge statement.