Beetdiggers start season strong in non-region play
With a returning core of experienced seniors and a newly emerging threat in freshman quarterback Austin Kafentzis, Jordan High School football has started off the 2011 season strong at 4-1.
With hopes of building off of last years final four appearance at the state tournament, the Beetdiggers are already garnering national attention. Stephen Spiewak of the CBS Sports Web site MaxPreps.com, lists Jordan as one of the ten football programs in the country that are on the rise.
“Jordan, which lost to Bingham in the 5A semifinals last season, could be the team to supplant the Miners as the state's top team,” Spiewak wrote. As of press time, MaxPreps ranks the Beetdiggers as second in Utah high school football behind Lone Peak.
Part of the team’s success this year could be attributed to freshman quarterback Austin Kafentzis who has responded to the pressure of following the high-yardage senior quarterback McCoy Hill from the 2010 season.
At this point in the season, Kafentzis has already thrown for over 1,300 yards with eight touchdown passes.
Like his predecessor, Kafentzis has also been a rushing threat for the Beetdiggers. In running option plays and quarterback keepers, he leads the team in rushing with 272 yards and five touchdowns.
Kafentzis has also gotten support from a solid group of senior receivers. Taylor Dean and Taylor Loomis have hauled in a combined 54 catches in their first four games, worth 651 total yards and three touchdowns. Senior Blake Miller has had fewer catches in those games, but has made those catches count, racking up 292 receiving yards and three touchdowns from his 15 receptions.
On the other side of Jordan’s high-scoring offense, which has scored 143 points so far this season, is a defense that has limited opponents to only 54 total points.
Leading the team on defense is senior linebacker Hayden Babka. In only the first four games, Babka had three sacks and 49 tackles, already surpassing the 45 tackles he had for 2010. Junior outside linebacker and captain B.J. Cavendar has three sacks as well so far this season. Taylor Dean has also managed to catch the ball on defense, grabbing three interceptions as a cornerback.
Jordan opened the season with a 19-12 last-second win against Fremont on Aug. 19. The team then defeated Layton 35-14 on Aug. 26 thanks to brothers Mason Gajkowski (a senior) and Baron Gajkowski (a sophomore) rushing for a touchdown each.
Jordan followed up those wins with another against former region rivals Pleasant Grove on Sept. 1. Jordan forced six fumbles to help shutout the Vikings 32-0. On Sept. 9, Jordan rolled past Kearns by a score of 43-7.
Regional competition began on Sept. 16 when Jordan faced rival Alta. Though Kafentzis ran for Jordan’s two touchdowns, he also threw four interceptions as the Beetdiggers suffered their first loss of the season 21-14 during the Hawks’ homecoming game.
