The margin was about the same as the week before, but the East High Leopards certainly had a different feeling after beating West Jordan 31-0 on Friday night.
“After that game, we almost treated it as a loss,” East running back Charlie Vincent said a shootout 63-34 win against Riverton last week. “We just worked really hard this week in practice.”
Scoring points and racking up rushing yardage to do it almost never is an issue for East (8-1, 5-0) these days.
It certainly wasn’t against the Jaguars on Friday.
Vincent rushed for 194 yards and fellow back Sione Molisi had 156 in the win.
But the difference in one week was the Leopards’ defense.
East gave up over 400 yards passing against Riverton in Week 8. On this night, however, the Leopards ended the first two West Jordan (6-3, 3-2) possessions with interceptions and bottled up the Jaguars’ running game all night.
“The defense made a step up, I’m proud of them,” East coach Brandon Matich said. “I challenged them this week, particularly the past defense.
“I think that our kids have got to learn to play at a high level all the time, regardless of who they’re playing. Our defense did that today. We put it on them, and that’s what they did.”
East clinched the Region 3 championship with the win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Charlie Vincent scored the first two touchdowns of the game, rushed for 147 yards at halftime, and finished with 194 yards on the ground. The East running back’s biggest gainer came on a pitch-and-run down the left sideline for 63 yards late in the first quarter.
West Jordan had a chance to force a tie with a victory, but the offense only was able to generate four first downs against the Leopards.
The second pick of the game, by defensive back Mekelee Gautavai, set up East’s first score — a 13-yard run by Vincent midway through the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.
Vincent also would go on a 63-yard jaunt down the left sideline just a couple of minutes later after getting the option pitch from quarterback Ben Ford.
The home team took a 16-0 lead into intermission when Martin Flores kicked a 37-yard field goal with 8:55 remaining in the second quarter.
Molisi, as Vincent did in the first two periods, scored a pair of touchdowns after halftime — one from 11 yards out and the second on a 59-yard gallop with 2:07 left in the game.
And Saia Hamilton put the finishing touches defensively on the game by making two late interceptions of Jaguars QB Ben Anderson, who finished with 107 yards passing.
“Offensively, we couldn’t do anything. We turned the ball over,” West Jordan coach Mike Meifu said. “It was still a tight ballgame at halftime, 16-0, and the defense fought all the way. In the end, the offense just didn’t have enough.”