Felt’s Football Facts: Playoff spots going fast as we hit Wk. 10

Felt’s Facts – Week 10

For the ninth straight year, since 2005, Week 10 kicks off the 2A postseason. More on those first-round games later.

Also, key contests for playoff berths and region championships, in addition to traditional rivalry clashes and travelling trophy battles, spice up Week 10.

Including Tuesday’s playoff game in 2A North (won by Summit Academy), 48 schools are guaranteed tournament action, leaving 24 berths up for grabs among 40 eligible schools.

Fifteen squads have already been eliminated from qualifying for the postseason: American Leadership, Bonneville, Clearfield, Cyprus, Fremont, Mountain Crest, Mountain View, Murray, North Sevier, Ogden, Provo, Viewmont, Wasatch, West Jordan and Westlake.

Bonneville, with a bye, and North Sevier, which didn’t make the 2A playoffs, concluded their seasons last week.

Region Championships
In region races, Timpview (Region 8) and Beaver (2A South) have already clinched outright league titles, while North Summit and South Summit share the region crown in 2A North.

Eleven teams claim outright, undefeated titles by winning this week: Davis (Region 1), Taylorsville (Region 2), Bingham (Region 3), Logan (Region 5), East (Region 6), Juan Diego (3AA North), Dixie (3AA South), the winner of Morgan at Judge (3A North), Manti (3A South), Duchesne (1A North) and Kanab (1A South).

In Region 4, Herriman captures the league crown outright by defeating Pleasant Grove. In any scenario, the Mustangs are assured top seed unless they lose and Lehi upsets Lone Peak. A coin-flip between Herriman, PG and Riverton then determines the seeding for those three and LP faces AF in a region playoff game.

Assuming Riverton defeats Westlake and Lone Peak and Herriman win, the seeding is Herriman, Riverton, Lone Peak and the winner of a region playoff between PG and American Fork.

But if Pleasant Grove wins, Herriman, Riverton, LP and PG all claim a piece of the region championship. The seeding is the same, except that PG takes fourth and AF is out. (That’s based on each team’s record vs. the other three, then on head-to-head results.)

There is one messy possibility: Herriman, Lehi and Riverton win, leaving four teams tied for two tournament berths.

A most improbable upset by Westlake could leave five teams tied for second and vying for three playoff spots.

Region 7 ends in a three-way tie between Corner Canyon, Olympus and Orem if all three prevail this week. With a victory at Murray, Corner Canyon becomes just the fifth first-year school to win a region championship, joining Payson (1909), Union (1951), East Carbon (1959) and Timpview (co-champs in 1977).

Five head-to-head matchups directly impact league championships: PG at Herriman; Box Elder at Logan, where the Bees must win to share the title with Logan; Morgan at Judge; Duchesne at Altamont – the Longhorns must prevail to tie for the crown with the Eagles and Rich; and Monticello at Kanab – the Bucks have to win to create a three-way tie for region with the Cowboys and Diamond Ranch.

Tournament Locks
Regardless of the outcome of this week’s games, seven teams have cemented top seeds and six more have locked up the second seed in their region.

Region 1 – Davis (1), Syracuse (2)
Region 2 – Taylorsville (1), Hunter (2)
Region 3 – Bingham (1), Brighton (2)
Region 6 – East (1), Woods Cross (2)
Region 8 – Timpview (1)
3AA North – Juan Diego (1), Stansbury (2)
3AA South – Dixie (1), Pine View (2)
3A South – Manti (1)

Do or Die
Fourteen regions have their last regular season games this week, and 10 of them have at least one critical contest where at least one of the participants must win for a shot at postseason action.

In Region 1, Weber has to defeat Davis or be eliminated. In Region 3, Copper Hills must upset Brighton and hope Alta and/or Jordan loses to force a region playoff.

Region 4 finds Lehi out with a loss to Lone Peak. Also, American Fork, finished with league competition, is eliminated if Pleasant Grove, Lone Peak and Riverton win.

A Kearns loss to East in Region 6 ousts the Cougars.

In Region 7, Skyline’s season ends with a loss to Olympus, but the Eagles stay home even with victory unless Orem defeats Timpanogos.

Region 8’s crucial match pits Maple Mountain at Springville. MM watches from the sidelines if the Golden Eagles fall, but by winning, creates a three-way tie with the Red Devils and the loser of Spanish Fork at Salem Hills.

3AA North’s key game is Tooele at Ben Lomond. BL’s hopes for the playoffs stay alive only if the Scots win and force a likely three-way logjam with the Buffaloes and Uintah for the final berth. Tooele is battling for its first playoff appearance since 2006.

3AA South’s most important contest has Cedar at Payson. The Lions must prevail to create a likely three-way tie-up with the Redmen and Hurricane for the last playoff spot.

In 3A North, a Carbon loss at Emery drops the Dinos from the postseason and then Union is out, too, if the Utes don’t defeat Grantsville.

In 3A South, the loser of North Sanpete at Delta is out of the playoffs.

Finally, Whitehorse at Monument Valley is an elimination game in 1A South.

Other Games for Seeding
Many other contests determine seeding and a few are highlighted here.

Layton at Northridge in Region 1 likely decides third and fourth place in Region 1.

In Region 2, Granger, Hillcrest and West, all underdogs this week, will probably tie for the fourth berth and face one of those intense three-way region playoffs.

Region 3’s Jordan takes third with a win over West Jordan and relegates Alta to fourth even if the Hawks upset Bingham.

Highland at Bountiful likely decides third and fourth seeds in Region 6.

Perfect Regular Seasons
All six remaining undefeated teams are favored this week and if they all win, Bingham wraps up its fourth unbeaten season and first since 2010; Davis snares its eighth and first since 1985; Duchesne enjoys its third consecutive perfect campaign and fourth overall; East, its 11th unblemished season and first since 1996; Juan Diego, its fifth and second consecutive; and Logan, its eighth and first since 2011.

Winning Streaks
Duchesne, winner of 43 straight, still has the fifth longest active streak in the nation. In Utah, the second longest streak belongs to four 9-0 teams: Bingham, East, Juan Diego and Logan. Davis follows with eight straight victories and Judge, Morgan and Timpview trail just behind with seven. Dixie has won six in a row to round out the top-10.

Milestones
Taylorsville, which itself admits it hasn’t seen a lot of success over the years, is on the verge on just its third seven-win season and first since going 9-4 in 1999 when the Warriors advanced to the 5A title game. Already, T-ville has won more games this season than the past five combined. Barring upsets, the Warriors face Alta in the first round.

Brighton (8-1), hosting Copper Hills, should pick up nine wins for the first time since 2005. Roy (6-2), at Sky View, is trying to win seven games for the first time since 1990.

Park City hopes to topple Juan Diego and win its 400th game.

San Juan plays its 600th contest since 1956 while Westlake competes for the 50th time since 2009.

Rich’s Ashley Brown goes for his 100th victory while Chris Wise guns for his 75th win at Bear River.

2013’s Most-Improved Teams
Taylorsville and, because of forfeits in 2012, East have improved 6.0 games over last year. The Warriors have gone from 1-9 to 6-2 so far and the Leopards from 5-8 to 9-0. North Summit (2-8 to 7-2) and Weber (0-10 to 5-4) have improved 5.5 games over the 2012 season.

Class 2A First-round Games
Millard goes for its 41st home playoff victory – the most in the state – when the Eagles host South Sevier in the first round for the second straight year. In 2012, Millard wiped the Rams 55-18 to increase its series lead to 27-8.

Parowan invades Layton Christian, which hosts a playoff game for just the third time in the school’s 13-year history. The Rams have captured all three previous contests against LCA, including a 27-0 whitewash the last time they faced off, in a 1A quarterfinal in 2008 – on the Eagles’ home field.

San Juan puts its glossy 30-2 home playoff record on the line when the Broncos entertain Summit Academy. They’ve never met before.

Gunnison at Enterprise is also a first-time matchup.

This Week’s Most-played Rivalries (min. 50 games)
Box Elder and Logan feud for the 95th time, this year with the Region 5 championship on the line. As mentioned, a Grizzly victory gives Logan the outright title, while Box Elder can snatch a piece of the crown by winning. The Bees lead the series 61-30-3 in the state’s second most-played rivalry, which was uninterrupted from 1919-2004. Since it resumed in 2009, Logan has taken three of the four battles.

Delta holds a 55-10-2 lead over North Sanpete, but last year, the Hawks snapped the Rabbits’ four-game series winning streak, 34-18.

Duchesne and Altamont face off for the 65th time in an uninterrupted series that began in 1973. The Eagles have won 12 straight over the Longhorns and lead 37-27.

First-Time Pairings (6)
Corner Canyon at Murray, Mountain View at Stansbury, Pleasant Grove at Herriman, Westlake at Riverton, and, as mentioned, in the 2A playoffs, Gunnison at Enterprise and Summit Academy at San Juan.

Selected Game Notes from around the State
Olympus has owned the Rock four consecutive years since the series with Skyline resumed in 2009 after a four-year break. However, the Eagles still lead their arch-rivals 26-20-1 as they collide for the 48th time.

Emery and Carbon last fought for the Coal Bucket in 2010; the Spartans dominate the series 20-2.

In another Traveling Trophy rivalry, the Battle for the Sword, Northridge leads Layton 16-5 and has captured four straight. But the last five contests have been decided by four or less points and a total of just 15.

Alta and Bingham play away from Rice-Eccles Stadium for the first time since 2009. The Hawks cling to a 15-12 series lead.

Hunter has taken eight straight over Granger and controls the series 15-5…. Brighton is 6-0 vs. Copper Hills and Lone Peak is 4-0 vs. Lehi.

Sky View hasn’t lost to Roy since 2001, taking nine in a row, and leads the series 21-13-1.

Davis looks to take its fifth straight from Weber as the Darts are in charge 33-12-3 heading into their 49th battle.

Viewmont leads its series with Clearfield 23-20 and Highland controls its series with Bountiful 26-16, but the Braves have captured the last two.

Orem and Timpanogos have split their last four matchups as the Tigers rule 14-4 in a series played annually since 1996.

Timpview has won 22 of the last 23 encounters with Provo to jump ahead in the series 28-11. The Bulldogs’ last series victory came by forfeit in 2011.

Morgan has claimed the last three over Judge in an intermittent series that began in 1928. The Bulldogs still own a 20-14-2 lead. They both take seven-game winning streaks into the 37th meeting, where they’ll decide the 3A North champion.

Juab and Richfield also clash for the 49th time. The Wasps enjoy a six-game series winning streak, but the Wildcats keep a 29-18-1 series lead. They last met in 2010.

Dixie and Snow Canyon have split their last four encounters. The Warriors won 28-21 last year to maintain their 12-10 series margin…. Hurricane leads its short series with Desert Hills 4-2 since DH opened in 2008, including a 21-0 victory in the 2011 Class 3A finals. But the Thunder stunned the Tigers 46-38 in triple-OT in 2012.

American Fork and Wasatch collided in 1949 and ’50, Cedar and Payson last met in 1992 and Canyon View faced Manti in 1997 and ’98. Bear River and Uintah haven’t squared off since 2002, Cottonwood and Hillcrest since 2004 and Grantsville and Union since 2008.

Monticello and Kanab have already played this season, but this week’s contest counts as a region battle. The Cowboys slipped by the Buckaroos 35-28 during Week 4 in a non-region game that filled what had been a bye-week for both schools…. Whitehorse holds a 17-13 advantage over Monument Valley.

After Nine Weeks, The Top-5…
Scoring teams: East, 49.2 ppg; Logan, 43.0; Sky View, 41.7; Bingham, 41.4; Juan Diego, 41.0.

Defensive teams: South Summit, 7.7; Morgan 8.0; Davis, 9.0; Duchesne, 9.7; Desert Hills, 9.8.

By victory margin: East, 33.3; South Summit, 32.2; Morgan, 29.8; Bingham, 28.0; Juan Diego, 26.8.

Notable Individual Achievements
Cottonwood’s T.J. Fehoko, whose 24.5 sacks this season tops the national charts on MaxPreps this week, ranks fifth all-time in Utah in season sacks. Fehoko is only 2.5 sacks off Duane Brown’s record of 27 (San Juan, 1991).

While Jordan’s Austin Kafentzis continues to close in on the career total offense record (he needs just 561 more yards), Baron Gajkowski (Jordan 2010-11, Lone Peak 2012-13) now ranks 20th on the all-time list with 6,451 yards.

Sky View’s Braxton Godderidge has moved into 25th place with 5,887 career yards of total offense.

Kafentzis has rushed for at least 100 yards in 23 games, just one shy of tying the state record.

Over his three-year career, he’s now third in passing yards (8,088) and attempts (931), fourth in completions (538) and rushing TDs (60), sixth in carries (613) and tied for eighth in touchdowns scored (60).

With 128 career TDs-responsible-for, he’s just two short of tying the state record held by Alex Kuresa (Mountain Crest, 2007-10) and Riley Nelson (Logan, 2003-05).

Orem’s Nolan Gray jumped into fifth in all-time reception yards (2,519) and needs only 166 to claim fourth. He’s caught 29 scoring passes, which places him tied for 10th all-time. Gray is eighth in career receptions (153).

Logan’s Taylor Compton ranks 13th in the career reception yards (2,206) and requires just 74 reception yards to get into the top-10. Compton has 185 career receptions, good for fourth all-time.

An Amazing Coincidence – and a State Record
After stats were finalized for two games, East vs. Jordan and Riverton vs. Dixie, both played Sept. 6, East and Riverton both reported 657 team rushing yards. That now-shared state record eclipsed Park City’s 614 rushing yards from a game in 2007.

Consecutive Years in Playoffs
Here’s the top-20, through 2012:
Seasons, School, Years
1 – 38 seasons, Delta, 1975-2012
2 – 36, San Juan, 1977-2012
3 – 30, Highland, 1983-2012
4 – 28, Rich, 1985-2012 and Skyline, 1985-2012
6 – 26, Bear River, 1981-2006
7 – 24, Bingham, 1989-2012
8 – 23, Beaver, 1990-2012; Bonneville, 1978-2000; Timpview, 1990-2012
11 – 22, Hunter, 1991-2012
12 – 21, Davis, 1972-1992; Kanab, 1971-1991; Monticello 1973-1993
15 – 20, Beaver, 1969-1988
16 – 18, Emery, 1995-2012; Grantsville, 1983-2000; Millard, 1995-2012; Morgan, 1995-2013; South Summit, 1972-1988.

Winningest Teams by Decade
As the 2013 regular season draws to a close, here’s a look at the teams that have won the most games, decade by decade, going back to 1910. (The minimum number of wins for each decade is quite arbitrary.)

1910s (min. 30 wins)
West – 40
East – 32
Granite – 30

1920s (min. 40 wins)
East – 69
West – 51
Box Elder – 49
Tooele – 44
Wasatch Academy – 42

1930s (min. 40 wins)
Jordan – 74
Box Elder – 58
Carbon – 57
Tooele – 53
Ogden – 47
Davis – 46
Granite – 41
Logan – 40

1940s (min. 50 wins)
Jordan – 68
Davis – 54
Orem – 54
Box Elder – 53
Tooele – 53
Bingham – 52

1950s (min. 56 wins)
Millard – 87
East – 74
Ogden – 61
Cedar – 58
Box Elder – 57

1960s (min. 70 wins)
Orem – 85
Delta – 83
Judge – 75
Wasatch – 75
Davis – 73
Millard – 71

1970s (min. 70 wins)
Beaver – 100
Skyline – 86
West – 86
Dixie – 82
Judge – 81

1980s (min. 70 wins)
Kanab – 92
Davis – 90
Bonneville – 86
Millard – 80
Jordan – 77
Beaver – 77
Highland – 75

1990s (min. 75 wins)
Skyline – 111
San Juan – 83
Brighton – 81
Timpview – 81
Grantsville – 80
Morgan – 80
Bountiful – 80
Bonneville – 76
Mountain Crest – 76
West – 75

2000s (min. 85 wins)
Timpview – 110
Bingham – 96
Juan Diego – 95
Alta – 94
Skyline – 92
San Juan – 90
Pine View – 89
Highland – 86
Millard – 85
Logan – 85

Felt’s Facts welcomes questions – email [email protected].

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.

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