This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Layton remained undefeated and began region play with a victory Friday night as the Lancers, 23rd in The Tribune's rankings, knocked off the 21st-ranked Hunter Wolverines 23-7 at home.
The Lancers were once again led by dual-threat quarterback Taylor Katoa, who rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown while also throwing for a touchdown in the victory.
"Our line did awesome today," Katoa said about the effort his offensive line put forth Friday night. "They matched the physicality from Hunter and won us the game today."
The offensive line gave Katoa a huge hole to run through early in the third quarter, as the highly recruited athlete burst through the defensive secondary and scampered 53 yards to the end zone. With that touchdown the Lancers took a 20-0 lead and looked to have complete control of the game.
Hunter was able to fight its way back into the game after Layton had given them new life on the next possession with a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt attempt. Quarterback Gordon Nai eventually hooked up with running back Carson Pututau on a 10-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.
After several poor offensive series from the Lancers, senior Declan Brown and the rest of the Layton defensive backs decided to take the game into their own hands. Thanks to consistent pressure from the line, the Layton defense was able to force Nai into throwing three interceptions on the night. Brown collected two of them while fellow senior Mason Randall nabbed the third late in the fourth quarter.
"It was tough at times tonight," Brown said. "Every time [the defense] came off the field tonight we talked about what happened and after halftime we knew what we needed to do to win. We kept doing our assignments, and we made some big plays. The defense played great all night, and it felt great to be able to help us win even when the offense was struggling."
A 22-yard field goal from Harrison Walker in the fourth quarter was all the Lancers needed to put the game on ice as they coasted to the 23-7 victory.
After the game, Layton head coach Jim Batchelor was quick to praise the Wolverines for multiple defensive stops inside their own red zone.
"They're big, fast and physical, they bore down on us in the trenches," Batchelor said of Hunter. "They always bring a team where you're outmanned because they're bigger than you. Our kids fought, they played hard, they didn't give up, they did what they had to do to win."
Batchelor was especially proud of his defense after Friday's game. The defense has come up big in several tight spots throughout the season and is a big part of why the Lancers are off of one of the best starts to a season in school history.
"They've been solid all year long," Batchelor said. "Our front seven has been great at stopping the run even though Hunter has one of the best power running games in the state. We also did a great job of forcing [Hunter] to throw it. That's what our game plan was and they did it well and that's why everything turned out good in the end."