Both ultimately prevailed with late-game heroics, setting the stage for an encounter where more than just a year’s worth of bragging rights and “The Sword” traveling trophy were on the line Friday night at Layton High.

For the Lancers, it was a chance to double their win total from a year ago and try to gain some of the momentum that was lost during last season’s 1-10 campaign.

Meanwhile, a victory on Friday and another over Kearns next week would give the Knights their first 3-0 start since 2012, a significant milestone in head coach Andrew Fresques’s fifth season. And maybe even more fittingly for Northridge’s 300th all-time football contest, it would be triumph number 23 in 33 attempts over the Lancers — its most common and most conquered opponent.

It didn’t seem like it would be one of those common Northridge-Layton classics for most of the evening. The Knights built a 20-0 lead in a game marred by 34 penalties, 21 of which were assessed against Northridge.

It didn’t go down as one of the finest performances in the series, though the Lancers made it interesting and gave themselves a chance before ultimately falling 23-14.

With the momentum tilting Layton’s way, Northridge’s Kaleb Gould drilled a 37-yard field goal with 1:49 left to put the Knights up by two scores. Then, Preston Haney sealed it with an interception, allowing the visitors to burn the clock.

“(Gould) said, ‘Hey, I can kick it.'” Fresques said. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Let’s go. Let’s kick it then.

“Obviously, we’re two schools in the same city so, you know, (the game) means a lot for the rest of the year. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,” Fresques said.

The Knights used big plays and jumped to a 14-0 first-half lead.

Jaxon Fresques set up Northridge’s first touchdown with a long punt return to the Layton 27. Seven plays later, quarterback Tre Nye kept it himself and waltzed into the end zone from 1 yard out.

The second punch came when Israel Arocha intercepted an offering from Layton’s Madden Sargent offering and returned it 43 yards to the Lancers 7. On the next play, Andrew Ortiz swept around the right side and scored standing up with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

Northridge’s defense was equally impressive when it counted most. On three occasions, the Lancers advanced the ball inside of the Northridge 10-yard line and came away with zero points.

First, after a holding penalty nullified an 8-yard touchdown pass from Sargent to Teiyon Halbasch, a bad snap on a field goal attempt left Layton empty-handed in the final seconds of the first half.

Early in the second half, a snap over Nye’s head resulted in Layton recovering the loose ball at the Northridge 9. But the Lancers only went backward from there with three straight tackles for loss, including a pair of Northridge sacks. The second sack, by Haney, jarred the ball loose and the Knights recovered.

Finally, with Layton trailing 20-7 early in the fourth period and the ball at the Northridge 3, a Sargent pass into the end zone went through his receiver’s hands before settling in the arms of Northridge’s Carson Brent.

“Our defense is unbelievable,” Andrew Fresques said. “I’ll tell you what, they had our back. We had a lot of mistakes and a lot of penalties offensively but our defense had our back all night long. You cut out a big play here and there, you might get the goose egg on that too.”

To his point, Layton’s official stats show the Lancers rushed for 5 yards on 17 carries.

Layton’s offense got clicking well enough to make it interesting down the stretch. The Lancers finally found the scoreboard on a 37-yard Sargent pass that Halbasch cradled in the end zone with 9:59 to play.

The Lancers narrowed Northridge’s lead to 20-14 when running back Solomon Lee hauled in a pass in the flat and scooted 14 yards for a touchdown with 5:46 left.

Layton couldn’t get a stop when they most needed to, however, allowing the Knights to move 60 yards downfield and position themselves for Gould’s field goal.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Andrew Fresques said. “That’s the biggest thing … we’re a team. We had a lot of cramping, a lot of injury stuff that happened too. Guys had to step up and they stepped up and made some big plays for us that we needed.”

Nye finished 17 of 29 for 221 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Northridge (2-0). Chase Harris caught six passes for 82 yards and Braxton Featherstone had five receptions for 72 yards. Ortiz rushed for 58 yards.

For Layton (1-1), Sargent threw 13 of 27 for 201 yards, two scores and three interceptions. Halbasch had 60 yards on three catches and Malu Lumpkins added 62 yards on five receptions.