Felt’s Facts – Week 3

Undefeated/Winless

Entering the third week of the season, 31 teams remain undefeated, but only three contests pit unbeaten Utah prep squads, all with 2-0 records: Juan Diego at Snow Canyon, Northridge at Layton and South Summit at Park City.

In a game involving an unbeaten Utah team against an out-of-state foe, Bingham (2-0) hosts Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman (1-0). It’s a rematch of last year’s overtime thriller, won by BG, 23-20, in Las Vegas.

Six more games match 12 of the remaining 31 winless squads: Bear River at Box Elder, Copper Hills at Cyprus, Layton Christian at Carbon, Payson at Ogden, Uintah at Union and Weber at Bonneville.

Fast Starts

A half-dozen teams head into Week 3 with their best starts in several years. Layton hasn’t been 2-0 since 1993 and with a home win over rival Northridge, will see 3-0 for the first time since a 7-0 start in 1987. Orem last began 2-0 in 1999 after a 3-0 start in 1998.

To open the season, Ben Lomond defeated Richfield and Carbon to post its first 2-0 start since 2001, but the Scots haven’t had a better start since a 6-0 start in 1967. Morgan presents a bigger challenge to BL this week.

Kearns, Mountain Crest and North Sevier last started 2-0 in 2008.

Before the season started, American Leadership hadn’t shut out an opponent since 2008. Now the Eagles have pitched consecutive shutouts, also for the first time since 2008 and only the second time in the school’s 10-year history. ALA has also matched its best-ever start of 2013 and has won a school-record three straight games going back to last season.

Streaks

With Lone Peak’s snapping Timpview’s winning streak at 27 games, the fifth longest in Utah prep history and second longest at Timpview, South Summit takes over as owner of the longest current undefeated streak, 12 games. American Leadership and Northridge follow with three straight wins over two seasons. Meanwhile, Altamont broke a 17-game losing streak with a 48-24 win over Lyman (Wyo.).

First-year Coaches

Just a pair of the 17 first-time coaches remain undefeated after two weeks: Alema Te’o at Alta and Aaron Tillett at South Summit.

Border War

This week, Rich hosts the West Side Pirates, who hail from Dayton, Idaho, in their 23rd meeting. Despite travel of about 100 miles and two hours over the Bear River Mountains, these two have clashed almost every year since 1992, missing only in 1998.

Wayne Henderson, whose father, Lyle, was Pirate head coach from 1986-2008 and still assists the team at age 78, notes some interesting ties between these schools. Rich’s head coach, Ashley Brown, faces his brother, Tyler, the defensive coordinator for West Side. Both coaches’ sons – first cousins – quarterback their respective teams: Koy Brown at Rich and Peyton Brown at West Side.

Last season, Rich (9-3) won the Utah Class 1A championship while West Side claimed the Idaho 2A title with a 12-0 record.

After losing to West Side in 1994, the Rebels began their then-state record 28-game winning streak.

The Pirates, who play on Lyle S. Henderson Field, in honor of the long-time coach, have captured the last two skirmishes to stretch their series lead to 13-9.

Rivalry Games

Bear River visits Box Elder in the state’s longest-running active uninterrupted rivalry, which began in 1923. The rivalry is tied for the third most-played series overall. Going into the 95th meeting, Box Elder owns a 67-25-2 advantage. Since 1959, the winner has carried home the Golden Spike.

In another traveling trophy matchup, Northridge invades Layton, both undefeated, in the Battle for the Spear. Northridge holds a commanding 18-5 series lead going back to 1992 and has won six in a row over the Lancers. However, none of the last seven contests have been decided by more than four points and two have gone into double-overtime.

And in the 19th Battle for the Pick, Cedar visits Canyon View with a dominant 16-2 lead since 1992. CV’s wins came in 2000 and 2005.

In addition to the Bear River-Box Elder series, there are three other long-running series contested this week. Union hosts Uintah in their 75th encounter since 1951; Union leads the series, which was interrupted in 1969, ’70 and ’72, by a 38-35-1 margin. Tooele takes on Murray for the 66th time since 1925, but first since 1996. Tooele leads this series 34-30-1. Weber plays at Bonneville as they meet for the 56th time since 1960; Bonneville enjoys a 38-16 series advantage.

Long Time No See

Eleven more matchups pair teams that haven’t met in several seasons.

• Davis travels to Olympus in their first encounter since 1992, but its their first regular season matchup since 1970 as they clash for the 14th time.
• Payson is at Ogden in their seventh matchup, but first since 1996.
• Provo hosts Judge Memorial in their sixth encounter and first since 1996.
• Enterprise entertains North Summit in their second-ever meeting; NS won a Class 2A first-round game over the Wolves in 2000.
• American Leadership visits Grand, who whipped ALA 57-7 in their only other clash, in 2005.
• Skyline plays at West Jordan as these teams meet for the fifth time, but first since 2005.
• Altamont travels across the state to play Parowan in their seventh meeting and first since 2006.
• Monument Valley and Many Farms (Ariz.) battle for the 11th time, but first since 2006.
• Milford hosts North Sevier in their 33rd meeting, but first since 2008.

First-time Matchups

Ten games features teams meeting for the first time:

• Alta at Dixie
• Bountiful at Syracuse
• Layton Christian at Carbon
• Desert Hills at Roy
• Lehi at Granger
• Manti at Pine View
• Monticello at Wayne
• Orem at Wasatch
• Summit Academy at South Sevier
• Timpview at Taylorsville

Milestone Games

Pine View, Rich and South Summit seek their 200th win while Lone Peak goes for its 150th…. Park City takes the field for the 850th time, becoming the 12th school to reach that mark. Northridge plays its 250th contest.

Among coaches, Les Hamilton directs his 150th game in stints at Grantsville (2003-04), Alta (2005-10), Hunter (2011) and Pleasant Grove (2012-15) as does Chris Wise, all at Bear River (since 2002). Louis Wong coaches his 100th game with stops at Timpview (2005-11) and Mountain View (2014-15).

Lone Peak looks to score in its 100th straight game while South Summit hopes to score in its 32nd consecutive contest and tie its school record, set from 1977-79.

From Last Week

Morgan and South Summit dueled in overtime for the fifth time in the series’ history. Only two rivalries have played more overtimes games: Ben Lomond-Ogden, seven, and Bountiful-Highland, six.

Herriman suffered its first shutout since 2010, its first season, and a span of 49 games. Manti also failed to score for the first time since 2010.

Stellar Performances

Jordan kicker Jeff Timothy has booted 10 PATs this season, vaulting him into first place in career extra-points with an even 200. Pine View’s Riley Stephenson held the record, 194, set from 2002-05.

Brighton’s Simi Fehoko caught eight passes for 224 yards in the Bengals’ narrow 28-26 win over Fremont. That boosts Fehoko into sixth place in career receiving yards (2,472), just 212 yards behind of fifth-place and just less than 1,000 yards shy of the state record held by Fremont’s Austin Raught (3,445 yards from 2003-05). Fehoko ranks 13th in career TD receptions with 27.

Northridge’s Jrue Perkins amassed 535 yards of total offense in the Knights’ 35-34 nailbiter over Bonneville. That ranks as the 21st most yards of total offense in a game all-time.

Two quarterbacks are closing in on 5,000 yards of career passing. American Fork’s Tanner Smith (4,904) needs 96 more and Maple Mountain’s Jaren Hall (4,819) requires 181 to reach that mark. Utah boasts 40 other players who have accomplished the feat.

See you on the sidelines!

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