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SANDY — Highly ranked Jordan took care of business in its first-round 5A playoff game.
The Beetdiggers jumped all over Pleasant Grove and never looked back in a 56-7 win Friday.
Jordan received the opening kickoff and easily moved the ball downfield. With 9:49 left in the opening quarter, junior running back Clay Moss took a handoff from sophomore quarterback Austin Kafentzis and ran 19 yards to start the scoring. The point after was made by freshman kicker Jeffrey Timothy.
From there, the rout was on.
Jordan scored eight touchdowns in the first half, and Moss scored five of them himself. In the opening two quarters alone, he had 160-plus rushing yards on his own. Kafentzis rushed for a touchdown and passed for two more. Timothy added the extra point on every touchdown.
As the clock ran out of time at the half, the Vikings had the ball, but quarterback senior Michael Anderson had been sacked twice and — looking at a third-and-20 — the clock ran out.
"We were outplayed on every down," said Viking head coach Les Hamilton.
The Vikings, at the half, had 20 carries for 38 rushing yards and 5-of-16 passing for 40 yards for a total 78 offensive yards. Jordan had 30 carries for 215 rushing yards and 9-of-11 passing for 196 yards. Jordan had 411 total yards at the break.
To be sure, the Beetdiggers' stats looked liked they had been for an entire game — and not just for a half.
As the second half started, Jordan had pulled all the starters out of the game and relied on its backup players to hold the Vikings down and get some valuable game experience.
The third quarter was a three-and-out experience for both teams. Jordan did intercept a Viking pass, but four plays later, it punted the ball back.
The Vikings did take advantage of a great pass completion at the end of the third quarter from Anderson to senior wide receiver Skyler Muson that put the Vikings inside the 10-yard line to start the fourth quarter. On the second play from scrimmage, Anderson kept the ball and ran 2 yards to score the Viking's first and only touchdown in the game. Senior kicker Trevor Ward scored the PAT and that was all the Vikes could do.
The 'Diggers controlled the clock well from that point on, and after trading possessions twice, they took a knee with 5 seconds remaining and ran off the field with their first playoff game in the bag and looking forward to their next one.
"I feel sorry for our seniors having to go out like this" said Hamilton. "They have worked very hard and have outperformed expectations for the year. We will regoup and get ready for next year. We want to be able to compete with the Binghams, Jordans and Altas every year."
Pleasant Grove finished with 32 carries for 96 yards and 11-of-29 passes for 178 yards (274 yards of offense). Jordan had 48 carries for 244 yards and 9-of-11 passes for 196 yards (440 yards of offense).
With the win, Jordan moves on to play Northridge next week at Jordan High.
Kent Allen lives in Pleasant Grove and reports on Pleasant Grove High School Varsity sports.
