This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Layton • For just a few minutes, it was the question buzzing through the hometown crowd. Could the Layton Lancers actually come back from a 21-point deficit?
Then the Jordan offense, which had been missing in action for the entire third quarter, suddenly sprang to life. An efficient two-minute drive, capped by Mason Gajkowski's 38-yard touchdown reception, finally quashed the hopes that probably should never have materialized in the first place.
"We know we could've done better," Gajkowski said. "We just didn't have a great mindset tonight, and we almost let them get back."
The Beetdiggers won in seemingly convincing fashion with a 34-14 victory over the Lancers. But even though Layton coughed up the ball time after time, they came within a touchdown with more than 8 minutes left in the game. And neither team walked away feeling particularly great about their night.
"These guys aren't happy because that wasn't their best," Jordan coach Eric Kjer said. "We dropped balls, we didn't protect like we should have, and we put our defense in bad positions. There were way too many mistakes."
For much of the night, Jordan performed well. Freshman quarterback Austin Kafentzis continued to impress, throwing for 242 yards in the first half. Gajkowski took over the passing game as Layton blanketed wideout Taylor Loomis for most of the contest, and his pair of long touchdown receptions showed that Jordan has other weapons to be feared. Baron Gajkowski, a sophomore running back, joined his brother on the scoreboard with a pair of rushing touchdowns.
The black mark for the Beetdiggers was the third quarter, when the team attempted some plays with a pro-style offense. Jordan held possession for only a minute during that span and gave away three turnovers.
"It just didn't work," Gajkowski said. "We went back to the spread and did fine."
For Layton, the story was turnovers — tons of them. The Lancers got off to an auspicious beginning when fullback Miller Toa broke free for a 72-yard run, seeming to put the team in position to strike the first blow. But it was short lived: Layton proceeded to give away four fumbles and two interceptions, and was scoreless through three quarters.
They gained some late life behind the arm of Hunter Evans, who replaced Tevita Uasilaa at quarterback. Evans led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, both scored by junior running back Willie Uasilaa.
Trailing 21-14 with plenty of time, it seemed possible that Layton could swing the momentum shift into a tie. But Jordan's late pair of scores shut down any comeback efforts.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
• Jordan takes an early lead and closes out late, claiming a victory over turnover-prone Layton.
• Freshman quarterback Austin Kafentzis finishes 21-for-40 with 302 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
• Mason Gajkowski gets a pair of 38-yard touchdown receptions while brother Baron Gajkowski scores two on the ground.