Six Jordan Beetdiggers earn all-state honors

After a successful 2011 football campaign that brought the Beetdiggers to the semifinals of the playoffs for the second straight year, several Jordan players are receiving recognition for their efforts through all-state honors.

In all, six players from Jordan joined the ranks of the all-state team elite selected from the best 5A prep players from around Utah.

Head coach Eric Kjar showed a great deal of faith by starting Austin Kafentzis, a freshman out of Draper, as the starting quarterback for this season. Starting freshman players isn’t the most common thing at the varsity level, let alone starting one at the helm of Jordan’s historically high-scoring offense.

Kafentzis, though, quickly silenced any speculation. Throughout the season, he garnered four Utah Player of the Week awards from MaxPreps.com and earned praise from the site for being “remarkably poised in the clutch.”

In 2011, Kafentzis threw for 3,188 yards, 28 touchdowns and a 58 percent completion rating. He also led the team in rushing with 1,377 yards and 22 touchdowns, averaging six and a half yards per carry. With 351 yards per game, MaxPreps ranked Kafentzis as the number one total offensive player in the state and number nine in the nation.

Kafentzis is also the only freshman to make the 5A all-state team. Though he broke his collarbone in the final game of Jordan’s playoff run, he remains one to watch in the upcoming Beetdigger seasons.

Offensive lineman B.J. Cavendar also earned first team honors for Jordan. The six-foot-one-inch, 275 pound center has started at center all three years he’s played for Jordan. By providing protection on the line, Cavendar was an integral part of Kafentzis success, both in the air and on the ground. As a defensive lineman, he also racked up 16 tackles and five sacks over the course of the season.

Jordan’s defense, which held opponents to less than 14 points in seven of its 13 games, was represented on the all-state first team by senior Hayden Babka. As a linebacker, Babka recorded a monstrous 120 tackles along with seven sacks and seven interceptions. Babka also earned four individual Player of the Week honors from MaxPreps.

Senior Taylor Loomis made the second team all-state as the leading wide receiver for the Beetdiggers. Throughout the season, Loomis made 65 receptions for a total of 868 yards and seven touchdowns.

Also on the second team is offensive lineman Zach Larsen. The junior earned a MaxPreps player of the week award for his performance against Viewmont in the second round of the state playoffs.

Sophomore Mori Savini earned an honorable mention for Jordan as well. As a linebacker, Savini recorded 54 tackles over the course of the season, including 15 tackles and one sack in a single game against Copper Hills on Sept. 30.