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It hit Jordan quarterback Crew Wakley toward the end of the third quarter. As the leader of the Beetdiggers' offense, he understood the severity of the situation.
"There was definitely some pressure," Wakley said. "I kind of realized if we wanted to win we were basically going to need to score on every drive from here on out."
Turns out Wakley and the Beetdiggers were up for the challenge. In what ultimately ended as the second-highest-scoring game in state history, Jordan survived a shootout against Taylorsville with a bizarre 91-83 victory in regulation.
"It was definitely, as far as statistics go, it was one of the best I've had," Wakley said. "When you're scoring that many points, you're going to have a lot of yards and you've got to have good percentages. It was kind of crazy. It's not necessarily a good thing that we had to score that many points to win, but from an offensive standpoint it's good."
The third quarter produced 10 touchdowns alone, and after both programs scored on their first drives of the fourth quarter — there were 12 scores in 12 minutes and 20 seconds of game time.
Ultimately, Jordan rushed for 435 yards and six touchdowns on 37 attempts while throwing for 495 yards and seven touchdowns through the air for a grand total of 930 yards of total offense and 13 touchdowns.
Taylorsville, meanwhile, racked up 317 yards and four touchdowns on the ground and 487 yards and seven touchdowns on 42 pass attempts to finish with 804 yards of total offense and 11 touchdowns.
For the non-math majors, that's 752 rushing yards, 982 passing yards for a collective total of 1,734 yards and 24 total touchdowns.
Among the notable items, according to Utah prep football historian George Felt:
• Wakley and Taylorsville QB Dane Leituala tied for a new state record with 11 TDs accounted for apiece.
• The combined 1,734 yards also set a state record, crushing the 1,451 gained by Brighton and Jordan in a 3OT game in 2014. Jordan's 930 yards set the new single team mark (surpassing Beaver's 833 in 1965); T-ville's 804 rank fourth.
• The 174 combined points are the second-most all-time, trailing only the 181 scored in Carbon's 175-6 victory over South Emery in 1926. This game beat out that '14 Jordan-Brighton game, which saw the Bengals beat the 'Diggers 78-76.
• Taylorsville set new state records for most points scored in a loss in any game (surpassing Jordan's 76 in 2014) and in regulation (crushing Pleasant Grove's 52 in a loss to Jordan in 2014).
• Jordan's 91 points are just the 24th-highest total in state history, but the most since 1954, when Cedar beat Kanab 95-0. The other 22 higher totals all came between 1909-1931.
"In the moment, you kind of have to trust what you've been practicing. I was never too worried about it," Wakley said. "… The passing game worked pretty well, but we ran the ball pretty well, too. We got to pick and choose what we wanted to do for the most part."
Jordan, which sputtered in the second half in a win against Desert Hills and was held in check against Roy in Week 2 loss, has now scored 42 and 91 points the past two weeks. Known for the high-powered offense, Wakley said the 'Diggers figured out the mistakes they were making, and the corrections are producing results.
"I think that Roy game — you never really want to lose a game, but I think we learned a lot from that game and kind of benefited from the loss," Wakley said. "It woke us up and made us realize that we need to pick it up."
Showcasing Utah
East ended Arkansas power Pulaski Academy's 28-game win streak with a convincing win in Salt Lake on Friday. The Leopards now have another opportunity to represent the state of Utah against a marquee out-of-state opponent when they travel to Concord, Calif., to face De La Salle — one of the most recognized names in the sport — on Friday.
The Spartans (3-0) are currently ranked No. 21 in the nation by MaxPreps after finishing last year ranked third in the country, but the program is most known for its 151-game winning streak from 1992 to 2004 — a national record which was profiled in the 2014 sports drama "When the Game Stands Tall."
Running wild
Alta running back Josh Davis entered the season as the top returning rusher in the state of Utah. There's a lot of pressure to uphold that title, but after rushing for 248 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries against Timpview, he's well on his way for a senior encore season. Davis was held in check in the opener against Taylorsville, with only 64 yards and one touchdown, but he's now reached the 200-yard plateau in three consecutive outings, against Hillcrest, Dixie and the Thunderbirds. Davis already has 784 yards and nine touchdowns on 84 carries this year.
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