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NEPHI, Juab County — Visitng Salem Hills took on high-flying and undefeated Juab Friday night, and the Skyhawks swatted the Wasps out of the sky with a lopsided 42-14 victory.
Even though the Wasps managed to strike first on a Nick Robbins toss to Dedric Davidson with 34 seconds left in the first quarter, it just wasn’t their night thanks in part to Salem’s Jordan Taylor, who notched two TDs for the second week in a row.
Taylor, nicknamed “Vegas” by his teammates last season, lived up to all the glamor and glitz his nickname suggests when he lit up the field with a dazzling pair of kickoff returns for TDs — one early in the game and one late.
Though Taylor’s first return — an 80-yard run — put the Skyhawks on the board, it was the second one — 92 yards — that put the game away.
“I have to give credit to the guys out there who did an excellent job of blocking for me,” Taylor said. “I made a couple of moves behind their blocks and then had to not get caught.”
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter and ended up trading the ball back and forth and going out on downs until Robbins hooked up with Davidson making the score 7-0 for Juab.
Taylor’s return on the ensuing kickoff evened up the score at 7 just 16 seconds later as time expired in the first stanza.
The second quarter saw Salem’s offense gain some traction, despite a grinding and tenacious Juab defense that gave little time in the pocket to Skyhawk quarterback Porter Gustin.
Juab's relentless pursuit of Gustin kept him off balance most of the quarter. Finally, with five minutes remaining in the half, Gustin rifled a 42-yard bullet to Trevor Gasser who streaked up the right side line for the score, giving the Skyhawks a 14-7 advantage at the break.
The Skyhawk offensive line came out a much different group in the third quarter after coach Joel Higginson’s halftime speech challenged them to step up their game and give Gustin more than two seconds to throw.
Accepting the challenge, the line allowed Gustin more time in the pocket and it made a big difference for the Skyhawk offense in the second half.
After the game, Higginson sung the praises of offensive lineman Tyler Christensen who is “a phenomenal player and showed again tonight just how special he is. That kid continues to create many future opportunities for himself,” Higginson said.
But it was the Skyhawk defense that set up the first score of the second half when Salem’s Tim Flemming blocked a punt deep in Wasp territory, giving Salem the ball on Juab’s 12-yard line.
Moments later Isaac Parrish dashed into the end zone for six on a short run. Gasser, who was a perfect 6 for 6 on PATs for the night, made the extra point, pushing the score to 21-14 at the end of three.
With a more focused and productive offensive line, Gustin and the Skyhawk offense put together a lethal fourth quarter, putting the game firmly in their control and completely out of Juab's reach.
The assault began when Chad Peterson pulled in a 33-yard over-the-shoulder-grab from Gustin and sprinted into the end zone. Minutes later Gustin struck again on a 30-yard screen pass up the middle to Parrish, who sliced and diced his way over the goal line upping the score to 35-7 for the Skyhawks.
With time winding down, the Wasps picked up a fumble on the Skyhawk 15 and turned it around for a quick score on a Kayden Whiting carry. Salem’s last TD, Taylor’s kickoff return, came with under a minute left and brought the final score to 42-14.
Gustin finished the night with three TDs on 16-of-23 passing for 219 yards and 49 yards rushing on five carries. Parrish added another two TDs with 60 yards rushing on eight carries and Peterson led all receivers with 56 yards.
The pugnacious play of Salem’s fearsome foursome of Jaxon Bowden, Hayden Albrecht, Tim Flemming and Gustin led the Skyhawk defense. Gustin and Bowden led the effort with 10 tackles each and combined for 3.5 sacks. Albrecht notched seven tackles and a sack, while Flemming came up big with three pass deflections on the night. He is among the state's leaders in that category with 10 on the year.
Sophomore standout Vili Wolfgram played his best game of the season adding nine tackles and a sack.
Higginson was very pleased with the second half play of his team.
“I thought we played very good at times and I thought we played exceptional when we had to," he said. "Juab is a great team and they are well coached. To respond the way we did in the second half makes us proud of our performance.”
The Skyhawks (3-0) face a tough region opponent, Timpview, next week at home.
