Field goals in high school football games are anything but certain. Bad snaps, mishandled holds, blocked and miss-hit kicks turn many high school field-goal attempts into adventures.
Add the pressure of a do-or-die attempt in the final seconds of the biggest game of a lifetime - on goal posts several feet narrower than you've practiced on all season - and you have the situation Pleasant Grove kicker Mark Jensen faced Friday afternoon in the 4A state championship game.Judge Memorial led by two points. Jensen had already missed two kicks - a long field-goal attempt and an extra point. With 14 ticks left on the clock, the Bulldogs used their final two timeouts to give Jensen extra time to think about the biggest 25-yard attempt of his life.
Glen Murdoch's snap was flawless. Paul Beagley's hold was true. Jensen's kick was pushed slightly to the right, but still sailed through the uprights with room to spare.
Pleasant Grove 18, Judge 17.
"I was nervous, but I was sure I would make it," said Jensen. "I looked up in time to see it go through the uprights."
The win gave the Vikings their first state title since 1956.
"(Jensen's) a great kicker. I had no doubt in my mind he would make it," Pleasant Grove coach Bill Mikelson said. "But even if he'd have missed it, we would have still loved him."
Judge looked to be in great shape early in the fourth quarter, as quarterback Sean Clark hit Mike Gallegos on a timing pattern in the corner of the end zone for a TD. The extra point by David Ravarino was good, giving the Bulldogs a 17-9 lead. On the Vikings' next possession the Bulldog defense held on a 4th-and-one near midfield, giving Judge the ball with 9:39 to play.
The Vikings forced a Bulldog punt and got the ball back with 6:31 to play at their own 28. After the combination of quarterback Greg Williams and receiver Todd Davis hooked up on a pair of 3rd-and-long passes for first downs, Pleasant Grove decided to go "cross country." The Vikings used a double-pass play they call the "cross country," with Williams throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage to receiver Brandon Huntsman, who in turn throws a long pass to Davis. It worked to perfection for 43 yards before Davis was tripped up at the one-yard line. Travis Despain scored from there to cut the gap to 17-15 with 4:43 to play. A two-point conversion attempt for the tie failed, however.
Judge ran the ball three straight times on its next possession but had to punt with two minutes remaining. Jensen's kicking heroics were set up by a 13-yard run by Despain and a pair of Davis catches from Williams for 41 yards.
Davis finished the game with six catches for 121 yards, while Williams threw for 164 and Despain had 75 yards rushing on 18 carries. Anthony Jeffries led Judge with 135 yards on the ground on 18 attempts.
The defenses won the battle in the first half, as each team could manage just a field goal for a 3-3 tie. Each team scored a third quarter touchdown, but the Bulldogs led 10-9 as Jensen missed his extra point attempt.
"I'm just glad I got another chance," said Jensen.
So is the entire town of Pleasant Grove.