High school football: West Jordan looks to jump from OK to contention

WEST JORDAN — Four-year starter D.J. Tialavea has been on a roller-coaster ride throughout his time inside West Jordan's football program.

Tialavea, who has a verbal offer from Utah State, has started both ways (tight end on offense and defensive end on defense) for the Jags since he was a freshman, and he's witnessed first hand the highs and lows that West Jordan has experienced.

As a freshman in 2005, he helped the Jaguars to a 9-4 overall record and a spot in the 5A semifinals. One year later, however, disaster struck as West Jordan went 1-9 and lost all the momentum it had built up.

West Jordan was much improved last fall and finished with a 5-5 record, and heading into his final season of high school football, Tialavea hopes to exit West Jordan's program the same way he entered it — by helping the Jags to considerable success.

"It has been a roller coaster," said Tialavea. "I didn't play little-league football, so I didn't know about football until I came to high school. And ever since, it's been a roller coaster, but I really feel like this is our year to show what we got.

"We have all the pieces to the puzzle right now, and I think that we're a great group of kids. We're really close; we're really tight-knit; and I think that when we do our thing on the football field, we're gonna get things done."

Leading the charge in that regard will undoubtedly be Tialavea and fellow senior captain Tyson Udy, who starred as a sophomore but missed most of last year after breaking his right leg.

Udy pointed out that West Jordan rebounded from the disappointment of two years ago with a decent season, and he thinks his teammates have what it takes to make another jump this fall.

"We just got to keep improving," said Udy. "We made that jump from two years ago last year. We've got to make another jump from last year to this year, and that's what we plan on doing. It's so much different, the feeling out here at practice. We just know we're further ahead than we've ever been."

COACH: Mike Morgan, a graduate of Brighton High and BYU, has been West Jordan's head coach for almost a decade.

KEY PLAYERS: Senior captains Tyson Udy (WR/LB) and D.J. Tialavea (TE/DE) are expected to lead the way on a team that should be outstanding up front. Some of the expected contributors along West Jordan's lines include Dustin Christensen, Colton Van Komen, Taylor Galloro, Tyler Wallace and Mike Smith.