Chasing glory: Football is an all-consuming passion and dream for many young Utahns

Long considered a basketball state, prep football in Utah is coming on strong like a running back loose in the secondary. Attendance and enthusiasm for the state football playoffs currently under way is running high.

Deseret Morning News reporters interviewed dozens of high school football players, parents, coaches, school officials, doctors, boosters and community leaders across the state to explain Utah's increasing fascination and sometimes obsession with high school football.

"Chasing Glory" is a four-day series that will examine controversial claims of "recruiting," the ever-increasing size of today's players, football dynasties, and a special visit to a distant Utah town where life is simpler and football the center of their universe.

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Eight hundred milligrams at lunch. Eight hundred milligrams before the game. Chasing glory means having to chase away the pain.

Precious final weeks of Chris Laloni's high school football career hinge on a regimen of ibuprofen, an athletic trainer's care, a brace and half a roll of tape.

The Hunter High School senior has a partial tear to the main ligament that stabilizes his right knee. He needs surgery, but the doctor's repair will have to wait. Prep football playoffs have started.

So what is it with football? What is the draw to a sport that makes a kid like Laloni play through pain and risk permanent injury?

What is it about a sport that would drive a coach to tell his team on the first day of practice: "I'm going to win the state championship with or without you!"

What could possibly be worth getting up at 6 a.m. during the sleep-in days of summer and pounding out six hours of practice?

This is not Texas. Utah is certainly not a high school football mecca like Oklahoma or Florida, but in a state where basketball has always been king, high school football is picking up steam. It's no longer just something to do in the fall until hoops start.

"In the last eight to 10 years, football has caught up and maybe even surpassed basketball," said Evan Excell, Utah High School Activities Association executive director.

Consider this message on the Olympus High School Web site: "We are convinced that a well-administered football program contributes as much to the goals of general education as any other high school subject."

Consider how serious the sport is taken in Fillmore. The school has a long history of winning, including 13 state championships.