5A football preview: Jordan at Hunter

Jordan (7-3, 3-2) at Hunter (3-7, 3-2)

5A State Tournament first round

Friday, 3:30 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Jordan by 10

All-time series: Hunter leads 4-2.

Last meeting: 2004 regular season

Two weeks ago this first-round matchup seemed like an impossible scenario. Jordan was cruising along as the No. 1 team in 5A while Hunter was preparing for its two toughest region games of the season. In the past two weeks, however, Jordan has hit the skids with consecutive losses to Skyline and Alta while Hunter came up with a huge shutout victory over Riverton to close out the regular season and claim the Region 3 No. 2 seed despite an 0-5 preseason record.

The teams appear to be headed in the opposite direction.

Hunter will rely heavily on Muka Atiga, who's less than 100 yards shy of breaking Matt Asiata's school record for career rushing yards. Hunter's coaching staff will likely try and get Atiga 25 to 30 carries in an effort to keep Jordan's quick-strike offense off the field.

Jordan receiver Cody Raymond tied the state record last week with his 41st career touchdown reception, and he'll look to break that record this week. Quarterback Chaun Cook has had a fantastic season, and he'll need to keep it up against Hunter's emerging defense.

Jordan Beetdiggers statistical breakdown

Scoring offense: 20.9 ppg

Scoring defense: 23.1 ppg

Passing leader: Chaun Cook (157-263, 59.3%, 1,980 yards, 23 TDs)

Rushing leader: Hayden Moss (128 rushes, 878 yards, 8 TDs)

Receiving leader: Cody Raymond (79 receptions, 1,032 yards, 14 TDs)

Tackles leader: Hayden Moss (96 tackles)

Sacks leader: not provided

Interceptions leader: Darren Carter (3 interceptions)

Hunter Wolverines statistical breakdown

Scoring offense: 15.7 ppg

Scoring defense: 24.4 ppg

Passing leader: not provided

Rushing leader: Muka Atiga (223 rushes, 1,488 yards, 12 TDs)