This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you were watching a Juan Diego football game, linebacker Taylor Cassita always was the easiest guy to find on the field. You didn't need to know the plays, or even be all that familiar with football.
Locate the ball, and there Cassita would be.
"I just have a good knack for the ball and I know when to find it," the senior said.
Even when other teams would run misdirection plays, Cassita wouldn't be fooled.
"If a team was running a reverse or a sweep, there he was and I'd think, 'Just how'd you get there? You were supposed to be going the other direction,'" coach John Colosimo said.
During the team's 24-17 win at Morgan, even the home team's announcer was awed by Cassita's 18-tackle performance, his voice rising in excitement with each hit, Colosimo said.
His nose for the ball earned Cassita 109 tackles and, Colosimo said, was critical to the Soaring Eagle winning its third-straight 3A championship.
Cassita is brash, never afraid to yell out what's on his mind. And so it was at halftime of the championship game against Hurricane, his own team locked in a third straight title battle with the Tigers.
Going into the game, Cassita feared some younger players lacked confidence the Soaring Eagle had the talent for a third championship.
Cassita had little tolerance for that, and motivated his team at halftime by telling them, "We deserve this, we've worked harder than them."
Juan Diego went on to break the game's 7-7 tie and win on a field goal as time expired.
And that was one of the few times Cassita couldn't help his team. Instead, he kneeled on the sideline, watching the magic.
Just like everyone else had watched him up to that point.
boram@sltrib.comTwitter: @oramb 3A, 4A, 5A All-State Football Teams: http://bit.ly/frAHUq 1A, 2A All-State Football Teams: http://bit.ly/igzYsT