Skyline escapes from Northridge's strangehold

Northridge can return the title, deed, owners manual and any spare keys it might have back to the Skyline football program.

As of Friday night, the Knights no longer own the Eagles in the playoffs. For that matter, they no longer can lay claim to 5A football, either.

And Skyline?

Look who's back in the championship game for the ninth straight year.

After three consecutive losses to the Knights in the 5A finals, the Eagles finally figured out how to get over this Ridge. They pulled off a somewhat shocking 21-7 upset victory in the semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"That's a great team we beat. Maybe they let us beat them once every five tries," joked Skyline coach Roger DuPaix. "I'm relieved we're in the finals. We're in the big dance and have a chance again. We want to play another week."

That's the good news for Skyline, which had won five titles in a row before Northridge's reign. The bad part?

The Eagles (11-2) have to play Hunter (13-0) in the 2003 grand finale. The Wolverines crunched Skyline 31-14 earlier this season.

At least they don't have to face Northridge in the title tilt.

On Friday, Skyline looked like Skyline of old — you remember, the 1990s powerhouse that owned everybody else before temporarily turning ownership over to Northridge.

The Eagles dominated from the get-go, opening with a 14-play, 80-yard, seven-minute drive that

concluded on the first of Matt Bauman's two touchdown runs. They never trailed after that. Their wishbone attack racked up 312 yards rushing, including 100 by fullback Ian Galanis and 72 by quarterback Mitch Reid. And their opponent looked nervous, leading to a load of turnovers, botched plays and penalties.

But most impressively, Skyline managed to ground the juggernaut Northridge offense, limiting the loaded and normally high-flying Knights offense to 24 net yards rushing. Receiver Tage Clifford was Northridge's only offensive bright spot as he racked up 208 yards on 12 receptions.