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LAYTON — Rivalry games rarely go as planned.
And Northridge almost found that out the hard way on the home field of rival Layton — two schools separated by less than four miles of distance — but managed to hold on for a 23-14 "road" win.
The Knights controlled an early 14-0 lead — scoring two touchdowns within a minute of each other in the first quarter — in what, at times, felt like an insurmountable lead given the Lancers' struggles to get into the end zone.
Even as Northridge was "kind of getting complacent" a bit in the middle quarters of the game, the Knights found the end zone again to start the fourth quarter on a 5-yard toss to Anthony Martinez for a touchdown to take a 20-0 (Layton blocked the PAT) lead with 11:09 left to play in regulation.
Ball game, right?
That's where those rivalry games will get you and everything changes.
Layton got some momentum on its side after the ensuing kickoff was returned from the 15- to the Knights' 40-yard line to put the Lancers in good position for a last-chance comeback. Three plays later, Layton quarterback Madden Sargent found Teiyon Halbasch in the left front corner of the end zone to complete a 37-yard touchdown pass.
On the ensuing Northridge drive, quarterback Trey Nye threw an untimely interception right into the hands of Dane Williams at the Knights' 45-yard line to add to the Lancers' positive momentum.
"I try to be perfect, it's just not possible — can't be perfect at all," Nye said. "But I definitely hold myself to a higher standard than anybody else here."
The ensuing Layton drive featured several yellow flags that dotted the field — a fairly common site all game in a testy and often undisciplined battle — but the Lancers got the ball eventually to the 4-yard line in hopes of another score.
A tipped pass at the goal line by a Layton player, though, fell right into the hands of Northridge defender Carson Brent, who sprinted up field to the 22-yard line to leave the packed Layton stands silent.
But Layton was undeterred and dialed up the defensive pressure in arguably its best performance of the night.
Layton recorded a 6-yard tackle for loss to start, and then dialed up the pressure on Nye to force an incompletion on third and 20. Before Northridge could punt, though, a delay of game penalty pushed the Knights back further and left little room for the punter to work.
The ensuing punt didn't come off the foot right and only went 30 yards out of the end zone, giving Layton great field position. Three plays later, Sargent found Solomon Lee for a 14-yard score; and, suddenly, it was a ball game.
Northridge then played the clock game, draining every second it could, before eventually marching down the field to secure a much-needed field goal to give the visiting team a 23-14 lead with 1:49 left to play.
Layton's final drive ended quickly when Sargent connected with Northridge's Preston Haney at midfield for a game-sealing interception.
"It was nice," Nye said. "Preston Haney, absolute dog. He's always making plays out here. Great player. And our defense held strong today. They did great. Second half, let up a couple scores, but didn't waver in the very end."
"That changed everything," running back Andrew Ortiz said. "That basically secured it. Great play, perfect position. He secured the bag for us."
For Haney, it was a memorable moment — and exclamation point — to an otherwise good defensive showing.
"Felt so good," Haney said. "It was just icing on the cake. We had a great performance defensively. Offense made some big plays when we needed it. Ultimately, it's tighter than we thought it would be and wanted it to be, but, I mean, it couldn't have ended any better."
Northridge starts the season 2-0 in back-to-back seasons, but Nye said Friday night's win has the potential to lift the Knights back to its old winning ways — back win Northridge won state championships.
"It puts Northridge back on the map, and we're gonna keep going up from here. ... We need to make a deep playoff run —somewhere where the school hasn't been a long time, and we're gonna take them there," Nye said.
