High school football: Spanish Fork’s gritty performance against Park City secures 4A quarterfinal win

Four-seed Spanish Fork beat 5-seed Park City 30-24 Friday to advance to the 4A semifinals for the first time in 12 years as a game that featured two of the best offenses in the state didn’t disappoint.
In a back-and-forth affair, Spanish Fork took the lead with 3:03 on the clock when Kaden Vest scored his 32nd touchdown of the season on a 76-yard run up the middle, adding another 100-yard game to his whopping 2,156 yards this season.
Vest is surrounded by the most talent a Spanish Fork team has had in years, with players such as 4-star USC commit right tackle Aaron Dunn, quarterback and the coach’s son McKay Smith and shifty wide receiver Brock Jacobson.
”McKay, Kaden, Brock, Aaron, they’ve been playing together since sixth grade,” coach Dustin Smith said. “All the boys on our team live within our boundaries, and they played together growing up. I was their coach in Little League, so they’ve been running the same offense since then.”
Spanish Fork needed the familiarity Friday as it trailed for most of the game. Park City had a 95-yard kickoff return by Eli Warner and an 89-yard pass from Sebastian Bodily to Reece Smith.
Undeterred by these big plays, the Dons rallied back with resilience. No one demonstrated this more than junior Gage Christensen. After dropping a pass and giving up the 89-yard touchdown, Gage responded with a game-sealing interception.
”Gage has had some big interceptions for us all year. I just talked to him, and he’s as happy as can be,” coach Smith said.
Things look different for Spanish Fork this year. Yeah, there’s a 6-foot-8, 285-pound lineman on the team in Dunn and there’s a brand-new stadium with fancy lights and excellent turf, but more important than that is how the Dons are approaching this season.
After all the lifts, practice and team meetings, coach Smith and the Dons get an opportunity to finish the season at Rice Eccles Stadium.
”I don’t know what it feels like to be a coach there,” coach Smith said. “I was there as a player but haven’t been able to get there as a coach yet.
“It’s a big deal for our program to get there; that was a goal all along, from the very first winter morning lift, was to put ourselves in a situation where we can get there. We knew we were gonna have to go through a tough team to get there. Park City is the best defense we’ve played-they’re really good.”
Even tougher teams lie ahead, as Spanish Fork will face unbeaten Ridgeline on November 14.