High school football: Tucker, Harris power Pleasant Grove past Jordan

PLEASANT GROVE — The Pleasant Grove Vikings have a roster full of Division I football players who have received most of the attention and have shared most of the headlines this season.

Running backs Kyle Tucker and Jeff Harris are not among them. But in Thursday's 35-14 Region 4 win over Jordan, however, Tucker and Harris were the ones who did most of the damage in slicing up the Beetdiggers.

Tucker, in only four carries, rushed for 92 yards and one touchdown. Harris, at only 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds, rushed for 60 yards, had another 40 receiving and added 94 yards in returns. He also scored twice.

"He's a lot of fun to watch," Vikings coach Dale Sampson said of Harris' big game. "He can break one open any time."

Overall, the Vikings, who led 14-6 at halftime, took control of the game in the second half by controlling the line of scrimmage and scoring on three third-quarter drives mainly with a strong running attack. Of Pleasant Grove's 351 total yards, 222 came on the ground.

"That's what halftime is all about, making adjustments," Sampson said.

Initially, it looked like the Beetdiggers' game plan of a no-huddle quick-pass offense was going to cause Pleasant Grove fits. Jordan, in its first drive, marched 80 yards in 16 plays to get on the scoreboard first. Jordan quarterback Alex Hart had nine completions on the drive, and capped it off by stepping up into the pocket and hitting Cory Hunt near the goal line, who turned and fell into the end zone for a 19-yard TD reception. The point-after kick, however, was wide left, leaving Jordan with a 6-0 lead with 5:26 left in the first quarter.

Pleasant Grove came right back, however, and didn't waste any time in doing so. The Vikings needed only seven plays to go 75 yards to pay dirt. The big play was Tucker's 42-yard sweep right down to Jordan's three. From there, quarterback Dallas Lloyd dove in and the extra point put Pleasant Grove up 7-6.

Even though neither team did much offensively for the next 10 minutes, the Vikings won the battle of field position. That finally paid off later in the second quarter when Harris burst through a hole at the line and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a 23-yard TD run.

But the Vikings almost gave that score back when, with 40 seconds left in the half and possession inside their own 10, they didn't take a knee. Instead, Lloyd fumbled trying to gain extra yards and Jordan recovered.

With a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line, however, a sack by Joey Owens put the Beetdiggers back to the 15. They eventually settled for a 32-yard field goal try, which was spoiled by a high snap.

"That defensive stand we had right before halftime was key," Sampson said.