Font ResizeIt was a must-win game for the Jordan football team. The Beetdiggers needed to beat Brighton last Friday just to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Behind a stellar performance by quarterback Alex Hart, who completed 30 of 50 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns, Jordan beat the Bengals 28-20 to extend its season.
Now the Beetdiggers face another must-win situation today. With Jordan's victory last week, the Beetdiggers pulled even with Brighton in the Region 4 standings and now both are on the brink of elimination. The two teams will meet again today at Hillcrest at 5 p.m. to fight for the region's fourth and final spot in the Class 5A state tournament.
"We match up well," said Brighton coach Ryan Bullet. "We beat three region champions, and they're just as good as any of those teams."
The Bengals have looked like a 5A contender at times, beating Region 1 winner Davis, Region 2 winner Hunter and Region 4 winner Alta.
With Region 4 featuring such strong teams, though, Brighton didn't breeze through region play. Besides Jordan, the Bengals lost to Lone Peak and Pleasant Grove.
But against the Beetdiggers last week, Brighton wasn't the same team that beat Alta.
"We're preparing for a better team effort from our team," Bullet said. "We better get ready in a hurry."
Jordan did a good job of keeping Brighton's offense off the field and creating key mismatches. And Hart was nearly unstoppable. When his
If the Bengals are to be successful tonight, they will have to stop or slow down Hart, who is one of the top quarterbacks in the state. For the season, Hart has completed 234 of 352 passes for 3,399 yards and 39 touchdowns.
