It was a night where power ruled over finesse as the Skyhawks of Salem Hills cruised to victory Wednesday night 40-10, over American Leadership Academy.

There wasn't much of a West Coast Offense seen on the field, nor did the Skyhawks air the ball out long very often. But when they did it sure paid dividends.

A 70-yard touchdown pass to Josh Fifita from Josh Adams only a minute into the first quarter, started Salem Hills off on the right foot and set the tone for the game as a whole.

Choosing to go with a more systematic attack of Kolapa Wolfgramm and Josh Adams on the ground, Salem Hills was able to do the majority of the damage behind its offensive line and blocking schemes.

ALA answered back with tough defense and a score of their own. A 40-yard field goal by Jared Chichia at the end of the first quarter put the Eagles on the board and gave them some confidence as the game moved into the second.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that's where Salem Hills broke the game wide open. The Skyhawks marched the ball down the field on a 65-yard, 10-play drive behind a 47-yard pass from Adams to senior Josh Warr and powerful running from Wolfgramm and Adams. That drive set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Wolfgramm and put Salem Hills up 14-3.

That was just the beginning.

A blocked punt and return for a touchdown by Billy Fairbanks stretched the Skyhawk lead to 17. And with 28 seconds left before halftime, quarterback Josh Adams was able to connect with Cody Bullard on an 18-yard touchdown, capped off by a Nate Jellum kick, which allowed Salem Hills to go into halftime comfortably with a 27-3 lead.

Defense would be the story of the second half for both teams. Especially for Salem, as they were led by a dynamic and aggressive defensive line which consisted of juniors Luaiki Wolfgramm and Jordan Robles, senior Phillip Sorensen, and sophomore Nathan McNaughton. All four players made running the ball a nightmare for the Eagles and forced them into a pass first offense.

A 7-yard touchdown run by Kolapa Wolfgramm towards the end of the 3rd quarter put the game out of reach.

ALA fought hard all game and showed flashes of brilliance especially on its final drive of the game. A 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hunter Morley to tight end Cole Fulton capped off a 60-yard Eagles drive in which they converted in every area needed.

Salem scored once in the fourth quarter to make it an even 40, when Jellum caught a screen pass from back up quarterback Jordan Robles for a touchdown.

Salem Hills heads to Springville next week for its final game of the season.

• West Jordan 67, Payson 34: At Payson, West Jordan's Jaguars scored the most points of the year with nine TDs in their non-league win over Payson.

Brady Loveless had three TDs for Payson, one on a 72-yard pass from Colton Cannon, one on a 58-yard run and the third on a 49-yard pass from Clint Bateman.

Chris Robbins scored twice for the Lions on short passes from Cannon.

• Timpanogos 36, Westlake 20: At Orem, Brooks Fowler threw three touchdown passes and ran for a third score to lead Timpanogos past Westlake in the Timberwolves' final Region 7 game of the season. JD Ashman caught two of the TD passes.

• Timpview 48, Lehi 3: At Lehi, the Thunderbirds stayed in a first-place tie with Provo with an easy win over Lehi in Region 7.

• Spanish Fork 42, Uintah 7: At Vernal, the Dons scored 21 points in each quarter of the first half. P.J. Inoke had a 66-yard run for a touchdown and returned an interception 65 yards for another TD. Quarterback Hayden Nielsen threw touchdown passes of 15 and 19 yards and ran six yards for another.

• Wasatch 53, Carbon 0: At Price, the Wasps blew past homestanding Carbon.

Soccer

3A TOURNAMENT

• Wasatch 2, Hurricane 0: At Heber City, Meagan Luke and Anne Fitzgerald scored, and Natalie Pennington helped preserve goalie Sierra Wardle's ninth straight shutout as Wasatch (9-6-2) advanced in the 3A playoffs with a win over Hurricane.

Luke scored in the first half off an assist from Fitzgerald, who was double-teamed throughout the game. Fitzgerald scored in the second half when Tristin Lowe broke free down the sideline and sent a perfect pass to Fitzgerald in front of the goal, who headed it into the net.

Camari Remund led the defensive effort for Wasatch, and Pennington made a sliding save in front of the goal with about 15 minutes left in the game to preserve the shutout.

Wasatch hosts Bear River on Saturday in the second round of the 3A playoffs.

• Judge 11, North Sanpete 0: At Salt Lake City, Kiersten Berg and Tess Burick scored three goals apiece to lead Judge (14-3-0) past North Sanpete (3-12-0) in the first round of the 3A playoffs.

• Desert Hills 6, ALA 0: At St. George, Berkley Bundy and Brittany Hansen scored two goals apiece to lead Desert Hills past American Leadership in the 3A playoffs. Cissily Braten earned the shutout in goal. ALA ended its season at 2-11-2) while Desert Hills (11-6-0) advanced in the playoffs.

• Morgan 6, Manti 0: At Manti, Chelsey Mortensen had the hat trick (three goals) as Morgan (11-6-0) picked up the road win over Manti (7-6-2) in the first round of the 3A playoffs.

• Bear River 4, Delta 1: At Delta, Bryn Kindred scored two goals to lead Bear River (6-9-1) past Delta (7-5-1) in the 2A playoffs. Emily Christensen scored Delta's only score.

2A TOURNAMENT

• Parowan 5, Liahona 0: At Parowan, five different players scored to lead Parowan (8-6-2) past Liahona (3-6-0) in the first round of the 2A playoffs.

• South Summit 2, Gunnison 1: At Kamas, Carlee Dick and Mykan Stevens scored for South Summit to lead the Wildcats (8-6-1) past Gunnison in the 2A playoffs. Karen Orozco scored Gunnison's only goal in the first half. Gunnison ended its season at 7-9-0.