National Player of the Year candidate Jaxson Dart breaks Utah single-season passing touchdown record

It took Jaxson Dart less than four minutes Thursday to break a the Utah single-season TD pass record that had stood for three years. The senior quarterback for Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah), the nation's No. 7 team, completed a 41-yard TD pass to Noah Kjar in the first quarter of Thursday's 6A semifinal game with East (Salt Lake City) to give him 59 for the season.

Dart went on to throw for 304 yards and four more touchdown passes, giving him 63 on the season, as the Chargers won their 13th straight game this season and 39th overall with a 45-30 victory.  They'll play the winner of Lone Peak and Skyridge in next week's title game. Corner Creek, which raced to a 31-0 lead on Thursday is going after its third straight 6A state title. 

Dart, who started the previous three years at Roy, broke the mark set by Cammon Cooper of Lehi in 2017. He transferred to Corner Canyon in January and has put together one of the finest seasons in state history.

Heading into Thursday's game, Dart led the nation in passing yards (4,058) while completing 198-of-285 passes (70 percent) against three interceptions. His touchdown passes mark also leads the country, and he also entered play Thursday with 1,033 rushing yards and 10 more scores.

On Thursday, he finished 17 of 24 and no interceptions and added 43 yards rushing on seven attempts and one touchdown. He's now thrown for 4,362 yards this season while completing 215 of 309 (70 percent) and 63 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,076 yards and 11 scores.

The recruitment of the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has increased rapidly this season. According to 247Sports, he has 12 college offers, including BYU, Arizona State, USC and UCLA.

With two more big games, he could approach the single season state passing yards mark of 4,726, also by Cooper in 2017.

Kjar, Dart's senior teammate, entered the game leading the nation in receiving yards (1,709 with 84 catches and 20 touchdowns), but owns the Utah career receptions record with 272, breaking the old mark of 260 set by Puka Nacua of Orem (2015-18).

While Kjar opened the scoring Thursday with Dart's record-breaking TD pass, Talmage Handley added two other touchdown catches and Cody Hagen and Dylan Carlsen contributed one scoring reception each. Dart also ran for a touchdown. He's now accounted for 74 touchdowns on the season and 131 for his career, which ranks fourth in state history.

East, which finished 8-5, didn't go down without a fight, rattling of 30 of the game's final 44 points led by senior quarterback Izaak Zimmerman.