Lehi • Skyridge linebacker Blayden Togiai had a message for his teammates after allowing the Jordan Beetdiggers to score more points on his defense in one half than anyone else had all season.
“At halftime, some things were said,” Togiai said. “We came out a whole different team.”
Despite a spotty performance throughout the game, the game ultimately came down to the toughness of the Skyridge defense. The Falcons stuffed a 2-attempt after a Jordan touchdown to survive a 45-43 shootout victory in the Class 5A state quarterfinals Friday night.
“Our offense put up points when we couldn’t do our job,” Togiai said about the defense. “When the time came to where we had to look each other in the eyes and do our job, do our part, that’s exactly what we did.”
With the Beetdiggers lined up for the potential game-tying 2 attempt with less than a minute remaining in the game, Togiai and Co. were able to corral Jordan halfback Jacob Shaver in the backfield to smother the valiant Jordan comeback attempt.
Jordan looked dead when it trailed 45-30 with less than three minutes remaining in the game. But a double-pass touchdown where receiver Wayne Coberly was able to find an open Shaver for a 46-yard connection on fourth-and-16 gave the Beetdiggers hope.
Jordan recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Jordan do-it-all quarterback Crew Wakely led his offense on a three-play drive that culminated with a 4-yard touchdown run from Shaver to bring the game to the brink of overtime.
“I know what they can do,” Skyridge quarterback Jayden Clemons said. “I played for Jordan last year. I know a lot of those guys, and I know what they’re capable of. I knew this whole week that we were going to have to prepare our butts off to win this game. I worked really hard — same as the rest of this team. We showed that on the field tonight.”
It was Clemons and the offense that gave the Falcons enough cushion to claim victory. The junior signal caller finished with 217 yards and three touchdowns on 14 completions.
But after a struggle to get the offense started, it was the Falcons rushing attack that finally kicked the offense into high gear.
“For one thing, we got the ball to Alex Palmer,” Clemons said. “He’s one of the best athletes I know. He helped provide the spark for the offense.”
SKYRIDGE 45, JORDAN 43 <br>• Skyridge stuffs a 2-point try in the waning moments to preserve the win. <br>•The Falcons rack up 526 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Jayden Clemons’ 286 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. <br>• Jordan quarterback Crew Wakely finishes with 264 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
After the Falcons went nowhere on their opening two drives, Palmer rambled off runs of 23 and 10 yards on their first scoring drive before busting a 62-yarder up the middle to give him the first of his two touchdowns on the night.
“It felt like we needed that spark early,” Palmer said. “I was happy to provide that for my team.”
After Palmer’s long run, the Falcons continued to string together scoring drives with explosive plays, including an 83-yard pitch-and-catch from Clemons to junior tight end Baden Stambaugh.
“Those plays provide a lot of confidence for our offense,” Palmer said. “When Jayden makes a little throw and gets big yardage out of it, everyone gets in a flow and the offense becomes unstoppable.”
But even with the offense clicking throughout the majority of the game, Clemons knew that it probably was going to come down to the defense in the end. He just didn’t know that it would end so close.
“I knew my defense was going to pull it out,” Clemons said. “They tell me all the time that defense wins championships. They showed that today. We owe them on this one.”