dangell@journalnet.com

MALAD - Life in Malad wasn't working out for Jordan Hansen. So after his sophomore year, he moved south to Salt Lake City to live with his father and play football in Utah.

But after a year in the Beehive State, he realized he couldn't make the kind of friends in a large city like Salt Lake that he had in the small town he left behind. Plus, he missed his mother and the rest of his family, who were still living in Idaho. So he made the move back north to Malad for his senior year.

The Dragons are glad he did.

Hansen's 70-yard touchdown catch gave the Dragons the lead for good against visiting West Side in a 34-26 victory that clinched the 2A Fifth District title for Malad.

"It was totally worth moving back," Hansen said. "They were a good team down there, but they didn't have the unity that we have here. I think that's what puts us over the top and makes us a team that's going to be good for years to come. I came back, and now I'm a district champion."

Although Hansen wasn't a part of the 2008 Malad team, he understood the pain the Dragons (5-2, 3-0 2A Fifth District) felt at how that season went. As soon as the game ended and victory was secure, the emotions flowed out for him and the rest of the Dragons.

"It's awesome," said a breathless Kaden Goddard, who threw the touchdown to Hansen. "It's what we've worked for ever since we were in seventh grade and started playing these guys. It just makes it that much sweeter beating West Side. It was a rivalry game, homecoming game and the district championship. You can't get any better than that."

Without a late addition to the playbook, it wouldn't have been possible. In practice on Thursday, Malad coach McKay Young decided to add a play-action pass to the Dragons' arsenal, thinking that the Pirates would focus on running back Caleb Bennett, who normally received the ball on a counter from that look.

After West Side (5-3, 3-1) went ahead 26-21 with just 3:20 to go in the game, Young decided it was worth a gamble. His thinking was correct and left Hansen without a defender near him.

"Coach said, 'Jordan, come off the line lazy. (West Side's Justin) Daley will not know what you're going to do. Then just get open, Kaden has the arm,'" Hansen said. "I knew he did, and I'm glad Kaden had the faith in me to throw that ball. As soon as I caught it, all I was thinking was run as fast as I could. When I got to the end zone, all I could see was black and orange, and I knew we had the game in the bag then."

Daley couldn't quite remember the play but said he wasn't expecting anything.

"It's football," he said. "You can't expect anything. You might stop them, or something might happen and it might go all the way."

West Side coach Tyson Moser said that he thought the Pirates had the game won after going ahead late, but ultimately, Malad made one more play than his team did.

"We figured it was going to be a tight game both ways, with playmakers making big plays," Moser said. "We wanted to put ourselves in position to win the game at the end, and we did. We just came up one big play short."

That one big play makes the difference in the teams' playoff destinations. Malad still has a game against Grace and will then open against the third-place team from the Sixth District.

"Our goal for the year was the state title," Hansen said. "A district title is just a stepping stone for that. So our motivation is still there. I think we're a force to be reckoned with."

The same can be said for West Side, which will meet the Fourth District's runner-up, likely either Glenns Ferry or Valley.

"We could have won tonight, but other than that, I can't ask for much more," West Side's Brady Bingham said. "We're going to be giving it all we've got."