Judge vs. Union — Roosevelt buzzing over Cougars' march into 3A semifinal game

They're about 140 miles apart. One is located smack dab in the city, the other is in the middle of the Uintah Basin. But communities surrounding Judge Memorial and Union have something in common.

They've caught football playoff fever.

There is good reason to be excited: The Bulldogs and Cougars, who play Friday at 11 a.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium, are both in the semifinals for the first time since 1993.

"It's crazy. We played at Juan Diego last week and had more fans than they did at their home field," said first-year Union coach Doug Bills. "It's pretty exciting. The town's going nuts out here."

They are down the road from the Utes' field as well.

"It's just an accomplishment to be here," said Judge coach James Cordova. "This is just for (the players) now. They can either play their hearts out and get a win or go down with a valiant effort."

Judging their seasons, you'd never guess that either team had been absent from the final four for so long.

The fourth-ranked Bulldogs (9-2) held the No. 1 spot in the 3A rankings for much of the season. They owned the top billing until catching a turnover bug in losses to Region 10 foes Wasatch and Union in early October.

And No. 3 Union (9-3) has a quarterback Rhen Richard who's played all season like he belongs on a college field.

What makes Richard such a special player isn't the fact that his 2,997 passing yards put him behind just one other passer in the entire state (Timpanogos' Christian Stewart). Or that he's also a scrambling threat, a great leader and has accounted for 41 touchdowns this year. Heck, it's not even that he is a unique athlete who happens to be a national team-roping rodeo champion.

It's all of the above.

Cordova said Richard threw well, ran hard, intercepted a pass, made a bunch of tackles and basically "did everything" in Union's back-and-forth 40-35 win over Judge last month. Slowing the Cougars' aerial and ground assault down or at least trying to is key to Judge's success.

"We feel like we can play with them, but there's the Rhen factor," Cordova said. "Rhen Richard is one of the most amazing kids in high school football I've ever seen."

Throw in several other scoring threats namely Richard's younger brother, Kaden, the team's leading rusher, and a dangerous five-deep receiving corps, led by 1,000-plus-yard receiver David Gilbert and it's easy to see why Union spirits are high.

Bills said his team must control the line of scrimmage and handle Judge's potent running game of Tyson Moll, Lewis Walker, quarterback Joe Pond and Bruce Garlinghouse.

"They're a really talented team," Bills said. "They'll be a tough draw."