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Sandy • On a night when the skies cried buckets of rain, the only logical thing for a football team to do was run the ball.

And that's what normally pass-happy Jordan did on a miserable Thursday night to take a come-from-behind 33-31 victory over Brighton to stay unbeaten in Region 2.

Beetdigger quarterback Crew Wakley rushed for nearly 300 yards and scored five touchdowns to bring Jordan back from the brink of being upset.

This was a night when the running backs for both teams, to use a phrase from an old sports writer, were slipperier than an eel dunked in road oil.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this game, other than the Beetdiggers completed only one pass, was that Jordan found a defense when it needed it the most.

The home team trailed 31-21 at the end of three quarters after a struggle with special teams miscues. The Beetdiggers trailed Brighton and star running backs Sione Lund and Kimball Reece 29-14 at one point.

But Wakley scored on a 33-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 31-27.

At that point, Jordan's defense stiffened. After the Diggers forced a punt, Wakley finished an 80-yard drive to score the go-ahead touchdown with just over four minutes to play.

The way this game had gone, Brighton seemed to have a good chance to win if it had the ball for the final series. But Jordan forced the Bengals to go three and out and punt. Brighton never saw the ball again.

Wakley scored on touchdown runs of 2, 1, 40, 33 and 23 and got good rushing support from Alec Evans, who rushed for close to 150 yards.

"That's the most we've run all season," said Wakley, adding this was his best game as a runner. "You couldn't throw the ball because of the weather. Sometimes that's the way it goes. It was not too hard to run. You just needed to keep your feet. The biggest thing was to keep your hands on the ball."

Jordan star receiver Spencer Curtis was limited to one catch for 13 yards, leaving him 48 yards short of a Utah record for most yards in a career by a receiver.

And, for a Jordan team known more for its offense, finding a defense in the fourth quarter in a key region matchup might have been as important.

Twitter @tribtomwharton —

Storylines

R Jordan's Crew Wakely runs for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns on a wet, miserable night.

• The Beetdiggers come from 29-14 down in the second half to win late.

• Sione Lund and Kimball Reece score for Brighton.