PROVO — It was a football game that his team had just won, but Thunderbirds head coach Louis Wong was talking about running a race.

After Timpview's 57-22 dominating win over Spanish Fork (8-3) in the 4A state quarterfinals, Wong compared the way his players approached the matchup to a runner.

"Someone once told me about a high school runner that came out in the beginning of the race and burned it, and people were saying, 'He can't keep up that pace,'" Wong said. "But he went around the track four times and burned it every time. He keeled over at the end, but he won the race."

Indeed, Timpview (9-2) "burned it" from the beginning, and it was Spanish Fork that suffered. On the game's first play from scrimmage, Dons quarterback Hayden Nielsen was flushed out of the pocket and was hit by defensive lineman Peter Quiterio. The ball came loose and linebacker Reuben Christianson recovered it.

Just four plays later — on 4th-and-2, Timpview quarterback Trevor Brown rushed into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.

The T-Birds' offense continued to roll, scoring on all five of its first-half possessions.

"I give our coaches most of the credit," Wong said. "They came up with a good plan and didn't deviate from that."

Timpview racked up 344 yards on the ground and were led by Bryson McKenzie, who found the end zone twice and had 113 yards on 18 carries.

The stat of the game came from the T-Birds' Jeremiah Burr, who rushed the ball seven times — but scored on three of those carries — and finished with just 17 yards. His touchdowns were 1, 1 and 2 yards, respectively.

Josey Trammel got most of his yardage on rushes — scoring once and collecting 70 yards on five carries — but also picked up a 29-yard touchdown on his only reception.

The Spanish Fork offense was able to move the ball well enough to stay close, and a Hayden Nielsen-to-PJ Inoke 37-yard pass brought the Dons to within 23-14 with under seven minutes left in the first half.

But Timpview's Josey Trammel ran 39 yards for a touchdown just 92 seconds later, and the rout was on.

All game long, the Dons' biggest problem was their defense's lack of ability to stop the T-Birds' offensive schemes. So when Spanish Fork's offense stopped producing, any chance of a victory was squashed.

The Dons put up big numbers during the regular season — scoring over 60 once and over 45 in six other games — so Wong was cognizant that his team might be up against an explosive offense.

"We just kind of figured out who to double team, and that was their big receivers," he said. "That was our biggest problem coming in."

So despite Spanish Fork featuring 6-foot-5 tight end Jordunn Mattinson and 6-foot-3 wideout Chase Loftin, the only Dons' scoring play through the air came on the Inoke reception.

Timpview will next face Mountain Crest, which crushed Highland, 48-7, in the semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium next Thursday. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.