Jordan quarterback Jackson Brown called his team's 29-28 overtime semifinal victory over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Hunter a miracle.
And who's to argue spiritual matters with him? He is, after all, Jordan's LDS seminary president and the school's resident miracle-maker.You'd have to believe the Beetdiggers were blessed - or at least extremely fortunate - to have pulled this one out.
They were their luckiest on this Friday the 13th on the last play of the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
After D.J. Thayne's 10-yard touchdown run brought Jordan within one in overtime, the Beetdiggers called a timeout to discuss their options. Hunter had already scored a TD in the extra session, so Jordan could either go for the tie with a PAT kick or go for the win with a two-point conversion.
"The fans may have loved three overtimes," said Jordan coach Jim Birch, "but I didn't want it."
Neither did the gutsy Beetdiggers. Birch only had to glance at Brown to make up his mind.
"I looked in Jackson's eyes and he says, `Coach, let's go for it,' " he said. "What can you say?"
Throw the ball to Thayne is what he ended up saying, but that didn't work. Brown was chased out of the pocket by a Hunter defender and he couldn't get the pass off to his intended receiver. So Brown hucked the pigskin to Mr. Clutch, John Bushman, who was in the back of the end zone.
As the pass floated toward Bushman, Hunter defensive back Carson Driffill stretched out his arm and actually got a piece of the ball. If his fingernails were any longer, the Wolverines would've won. However, the ball flopped onto Bushman's helmet and he somehow managed to trap it against his head with one hand.
Bushman, who had two great touchdown catches already to his credit, held onto the ball while hitting the end zone turf to put the Beetdiggers back into the finals for the first time since they won the 4A title in 1994.
"It was a good throw and luckily it was deflected to me," smiled Bushman, whose team will play Skyline for the championship at noon next Friday at BYU.
"We planned it like that," grinned Brown. "Luck was on our side. I knew we could pull it out. That was a miracle."
The agonizing part for the Wolverines was that they probably should have won this game in regulation.
Hunter scored a touchdown with just over four minutes left in the game to go up by eight with the extra-point still to come. The PAT kick would have put the Beet-diggers in a huge hole, but the Wolverines never got a chance.
After scoring one of his three TDs on a 1-yard rush, Joe Lomu unwisely got a bit too exuberant. He did his customary Heisman-type pose, and the referee called him for unsportsmanlike conduct. Hunter then failed to convert the two-point pass play instead of trying for a 35-yard PAT kick.
It'd be unfair to say the celebration penalty cost the Wolverines this game, but it sure left the comeback door wide open for the Beet-diggers.
"That was huge," Brown admitted. "That (PAT kick) could have ended the game."
"That's a decision the referees have to make," said a frustrated Hunter coach John Lambourne, adding that he told Lomu he still loved him despite committing the costly penalty.
Jackson began the game-tying drive with a 35-yard bomb to receiver Tyler Rodgers. Saia Vaivaka picked up another 23-yard chunk on three carries. After a penalty and a couple of short gains by Thayne, the Beetdiggers found themselves in a fourth-and-six situation with 1:45 left.
Brown calmly made a perfect throw to Bushman for a 20-yard TD, and then the 6-foot-5 football/basketball star tied the game on a QB sneak for the two-point conversion.
Brown finished with 189 yards and two TDs passing. The Beetdiggers were solid on the ground with Vaivaka picking up 86 yards and Thayne 62 yards and two TDs.
Hunter was led by its dynamic duo of Lomu and David Fiefia, who rushed for 104 and 103 yards. Fiefia scored Hunter's other TD.
"We hope we can appreciate what we did through this great season," added Lambourne, whose Wolverines ended with a school-best record of 11-1.
The Beetdiggers, meantime, are hoping they have one more miracle left for next Friday.