Just when Taylorsville was starting to enjoy its early success, the football bullies from West Jordan came to town.
Optimism has been high at Taylorsville since the Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 region record, but Friday night West Jordan quieted Taylorsville's excitement with a 21-18 win, the Jaguars' seventh in a row against their northern neighbors.West Jordan did all its damage in the first half, scoring 21 points, and then held onto dear life.
Jaguar's offense needed just two plays to get on the board after their defense forced Taylorsville to punt on its first possession.
West Jordan quarterback Nathan Christiansen kept the ball on an option play and sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown.
But the Jaguars were just beginning. West Jordan's defense stuffed Taylorsville on three straight plays, and, after a short punt, the Jaguars had the ball on the Taylorsville 46. Four plays later, Tracy Syddall scored from five yards out. Josh Waite's kick gave West Jordan a 14-0 lead and there was still 5:18 left in the first quarter.
After the Jaguars defense forced another Warrior punt, West Jordan marched down the field and Christiansen scored on an eight-yard run.
The only Taylorsville highlight in the first half came with 2:55 left in the the second quarter when Ryan Bruse kicked a 37-yard field goal.
West Jordan finished the first half with 216 yards rushing (97 from Christiansen) and held Taylorsville's offense to just 46 total yards.
The second half was a role reversal. Taylorsville put the breaks on West Jordan's running game and shutout the Jaguars.Then the Warriors' offense came alive. Jamie Scott intercepted a Christiansen pass at the
Warriors 37. Taylorsville then went on an eight-play drive that moved the ball to West Jordan's three-yard line.
But on first-and-goal at the three, the Warriors botched a handoff and West Jordan's Tyson Wood made perhaps the biggest play of the game when he pounced on the fumble.
The turnover knocked the wind out of Taylorsville's momentum, but the Warriors fought back with a variety of razzle-dazzle plays to catch West Jordan's defense off-guard.
With 7:36 left in the game, Taylorsville ran a sweep to running back Tad Hunter, who stopped and threw a touchdown pass that slipped through a West Jordan defender's hands and into the arms of quarterback Todd Marietta.
Hunter ran in the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 21-11.
Taylorsville then continued to rally, scoring again with two minutes left in the game on a Marietta five-yard pass to Dan Egelund. Bruse's PAT cut the lead to 21-18 but Taylorsville ran out of time. "We're a good team. I think we're going to be a contender. We just came out real flat," said Taylorsville coach Randy Tuft.
Christiansen led West Jordan's rushing attack with 127 yards rushing. Aaron Lively also broke the 100-yard mark. He had 114 yards rushing.