Ogden >> Time was waning in the Class 1A state high school football championship Saturday, but Duchesne quarterback Parker Crum could go to his knee knowing that he did his job.
Ever so gingerly, though, did Crum bend down on a heavily bandaged left ankle the first time the so-called victory formation was employed.
Eventually, Crum moved a little bit quicker and Duchesne, despite giving up a safety with two seconds left, prevailed for an 18-14 victory over Layton Christian.
At Weber State University’s Stewart Stadium, a hobbled Crum found fellow sophomore Draker Goodliffe for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 1:33 left in the game for the winning points.
Crum had exited the contest back on Duchesne’s first drive of the third quarter, when his leg was rolled on by a Layton Christian defender. Crum was out for the rest of that possession, then out for the next — and then the next after that before finally prevailing upon his coaches to let him go back in.
“I told the coaches, ‘I want to win this.’ I told my grandma before she passed away that I will win a state championship for her,” the sophomore said. “It’s been a dream since I was 6 years old.
“When (Duchesne head coach Jerry) Cowan said, ‘Are you good to go?,’” Crum added, “I said ‘Coach, I’m more than ready to go in.’”
Not that his immediate return was particularly auspicious.
After a fumble by Layton Christian (9-5) was picked up by Duchesne’s Ethan Park, who ran it back 58 yards to the shadow of LCA’s goal post, a noticeably limping Crum was back at the helm. But Duchesne (11-1) went nowhere in three plays and then missed a field goal attempt as the score stayed tied at 12-12 with 7:06 left to play.
The kicking game, in general, and converting points after touchdowns, in particular, were issues for both teams all day. Neither converted any PATs.
But Duchesne got the ball back with 3:47 remaining at the Layton Christian 49. A big pass-interference call helped Duchesne move downfield, and Crum found Goodliffe for the go-ahead TD one play later.
It was the second Crum-Goodliffe connection of the day. They also hooked up for a touchdown on an 18-yard strike in the second quarter as Duchesne went up 12-0.
“This is just what we practiced all season. We’ve grown up together and been doing that since third grade,” Goodliffe said. “It’s just pretty special to be doing it in a state championship.”
The Duchesne Eagles, part of a football-proud community, last won a state title in 2016. They entered the 1A playoffs as the top seed and finished 11-1.
“We haven’t done it in five years,” Goodliffe said. “I don’t know of a team that would want it more than this one.”
But Duchesne couldn’t shake the No. 6 Layton Christian Eagles so easily.
LCA, led by Jessaia Giatras’ 151 yards rushing, entered the half down 12-6. They erased that deficit on the first play of the second half when Giatras broke loose for an 83-yard jaunt to the end zone.
Layton Christian’s last decent chance to tie or go ahead came after it got the ball back with 1:28 left in the game. But the effort ended three plays in with an interception as LCA didn’t have the time to pound the ball behind their big linemen.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Layton Christian Academy wide receiver Malik Johnson goes up for a pass along with Duchesne Eagle, Draker Goodliffe (4), in 1A Football Championship action between the Duchesne Eagles and the Layton Christian Academy Eagles, at the Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Stadium in Ogden, on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.
The size difference was noticeable between the bigger Layton players and their Duchesne counterparts.
“You mean the 100-pound difference?,” Cowan said. “We’re 125-, 130-pound linebackers. They have 300-pound linemen. Obviously, it’s a complete mismatch up front, size-wise.
“But the great thing about it is our kids are blue collar, they’re tough, they’re hard-nosed.”
And they got the job done.
