Juan Diego hands Wasatch its first defeat

DRAPER — Call this one a "block party."

A blocked extra point by Wasatch gave the Wasps momentum in the 4th quarter. But a blocked field goal by Juan Diego led to a last-minute drive that found Corey Lever running 10 yards for the game-winning touchdown, lifting the Soaring Eagle to a dramatic 21-13 victory and handing Wasatch its first loss of the season.

Lever's TD run came with 21 seconds left in the game and capped a dominant night on the ground as Juan Diego (2-2) outgained Wasatch 257 to 144.

"They just took it to (Wasatch)," said Juan Diego coach John Colosimo. "We beat a pretty good team tonight."

Wasatch (3-1) had tied the game at 13 with 5:30 left in the 4th quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Woodruff to tight end Jeffrey Tukuafu. The Wasps got the ball back a minute later at midfield on a Juan Diego fumble.

The Wasps got down to the Soaring Eagle 33 where they faced 4thand 8. Wasatch's kickoff specialist Camron Lowry came out for a 50-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by Juan Diego; giving the Soaring Eagle the ball back with 1:50 left.

Wasp coach Steve North said he felt the need to send out his kicker at that point.

"(Lowry's) got the leg to do it," North said. "We wanted to see if we could get the win (on the road)."

The game started off as a defensive struggle with a scoreless first quarter.

Juan Diego opened the scoring early in the second quarter as Vince Romero took a handoff up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown romp, making it 7-0 Soaring Eagle.

Wasatch chalked up field goals of 43 and 33 yards by Matthew Wheatley in the second and third quarters to pull within 1 point.

A 64-yard drive, punctuated by Morales' 1-yard TD plunge, gave Juan Diego a 13-6 lead. Romero, who had 14 carries for 132 yards, had a key 25-yard jaunt on the drive.

Salazar blocked the extra point, a play that seemed to spark the star rusher, who had been held to 33 yards in the first half by the Juan Diego defense. Salazar finished with 134 yards on 29 carries.

"We did everything we could ... we keyed in on (Salazar)," Colosimo said.

Wasatch had 6 fumbles on snaps that led to stalled drives.

"We've got to clean that up," said North, who expressed confidence that his team would bounce back next week at Ben Lomond.

"These kids are resilient, they're a good team," he said.

Juan Diego returns to action next Friday at Bear River.