3A football preview: Park City at Logan

Park City (8-2, 2-2) at Logan (8-2, 5-0)

3A State Tournament first-round game

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Logan by 5

All-time series: Tied 1-1.

Last meeting: 2006 regular season, Park City won 36-35 in OT

This is the big one.

Logan's showdown with Park City is the most glamourous matchup of the first round of the 3A tournament and possibly the entire state.

Both teams have been solid throughout 2007 and harbor legitimate state-championship aspirations.

So, how the heck are they meeting in the first round of the playoffs? They're colliding with one another at this point because Park City dropped games against Judge and Union in highly-competitive Region 10.

Accordingly, top-ranked Logan and No. 5 Park City, both of whom are 8-2, will trade swords in the opening round, rather than at a later point.

Park City has had this round of the 3A tournament in the back of its mind for quite some time. A year ago, the Miners finished the regular season with a 10-0 record but lost to Snow Canyon in Round 1.

Coach Brandon Matich called it the "toughest loss" he's ever had, and the Miners would love nothing more than to vanquish some of those bitter memories by getting past Logan.

To do that, they'll rely on hugely talented runner Matt Wright to lead the way.

Wright enters the postseason as the leading rusher in the state, having racked up 1,793 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Both Park City and Logan have prolific offenses, but, unlike Park City's ground-oriented attack, Logan does much of its damage through the air.

QB Jeff Manning has thrown for 1,605 yards and 22 touchdowns, and receiver Jeff Watts has hauled in 32 passes for 383 yards.

While Park City was enduring slugfests with Wasatch, Judge and Union in Region 10, Logan breezed through a featherweight Region 11 schedule.

It shouldn't take long Friday afternoon to determine how much of a factor that will have on the proceedings. But regardless of what the impact actually is, this much seems clear: The showdown should be awfully fun to watch.