Jordan beats Brighton for final playoff spot

Midvale » For the second time in four days, Jordan faced Brighton with the pressure of winning or packing up the cleats for the rest of the year.

And for the second time in four days, the Beetdiggers extended their season.

On Tuesday night, Jordan defeated Brighton 35-30 in a Region 4 play-in game. With the victory, the Beetdiggers claim the final playoff spot in the state and will advance to Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Bingham. It will be Jordan's third game in eight days.

"We're going to have a lot of ice packs," Jordan senior quarterback Alex Hart said. "But we're excited to be here, excited to get this far, and nobody's really complaining."

The victory was secure when Jordan's Taylor Smith hauled in his ninth interception of the season. The pick, with a minute left, came in Jordan's end zone and thwarted what would've been a game-winning Brighton drive.

"The defense stepped up and made some key plays," Beetdigger coach Eric Kjar said. "The kids over the last few weeks of the season have been really competing."

Jordan led for most of the game, and as always, Hart put on a clinic of how to play quarterback. The senior, who last week committed to Utah State, went 22-for-32 for 327 yards. He threw four touchdown passes, all to Braden Hammond, and accomplished all of this in blizzard-like conditions.

The Beetdiggers led by as much as 35-24 deep into the third quarter, yet

the Bengals refused to quit.

A 65-yard touchdown pass from Jace Felix to Zane Smith pulled Brighton to within 35-30. And twice the Bengals threatened to take the lead.

On the final drive, Brighton appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown, but it was called back for an illegal block in the back. That's when Smith stepped up and made the game-saving interception.

"This team has been great over the last month," Kjar said. "Taylor Smith made the play of the game, and I'm just real proud of the guys. This was a great team win."

tjones@sltrib.com