In what Springville coach Keith Maple called ‘the best game he has been involved in and the best game he has seen in 20 years,’ the Tigers held on to defeat Pleasant Grove 40-39.

The win by the eighth-ranked Tigers gave them a perfect 2-0 overall and region record.

There were many stars in the game for the Tigers. Quarterback Josh Gibson was 28-for-35 passing for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Jeremy Richardson caught seven passes for 190 yards, including three touchdowns.

At one point and time, Springville trailed 20-6 but the Tigers scored right before halftime to make it 20-14. Springville’s Ra’Keem Boyd returned a Pleasant Grove punt 70 yards to the Spartan 4-yard line and Richardson scored on the next play to tie the game at 20-20.

Demarcus Tremble, who rushed for over 100 yards, scored twice and just like that, Springville was up 40-20.

Pleasant Grove did not give up and over the next 8 minutes of the game, cut into the Springville lead, by recovering three onside kicks. The Spartans scored three times and closed the gap to 40-39. They were driving again and faced a fourth down and 1 from the Tiger 11. The Springville defense rose to the occasion and held as the Tigers escaped with a 40-39 victory.

“We had a couple of breakdowns in our secondary and our kicking game by allowing them to recover three onside kicks,” Maple said. “At times, our offense was stale and then all of a sudden, it just started clicking.”

The Springville offense had almost 500 yards of total offense, as did Pleasant Grove but Maple said he was still pleased with his defense.

Maple was also pleased with Josh Gibson and knew he could do it.

“He understands what he has to do,” Maple said. “Matt Lipscomb changed the game. He threw a pass on fourth down and he did an excellent job on special teams.”

Springville is back at home tomorrow as they face 0-2 Curry.