What the Braves may lack in experience, they make up for in talent. Led by returning all-staters Mike Knight and Judd Wray, as well as talented goalkeeper Brian Simmons and others, Bountiful seems to have all the tools necessary to defend its championship.

Behind them, though, there are a lot of challengers.

Bountiful's league, Region 5, was extremely tough a season ago and could be again this year, with squads like Woods Cross, Bonneville, Sky View and Mountain Crest appearing to be strong.

In Region 6, East and Olympus have been the class of the league for the past few years, and there's no reason to think that won't continue. Both, despite some early hiccups, should be regarded as statewide contenders.

Finally, Mountain View — which moved from 5A to 4A this year — Timpview and Orem lead the way in what could be very a difficult Region 7. Springville, also of that league, has played really well early.

CLASS 3A: Of the four classifications, this one seems the most uncertain.

However, that's not necessarily the case at the top, where No. 2 Logan has established itself as the team to beat. The Grizzlies were the 3A runner-up in 2006 and 2007, and they played a ton of sophomores last year.

Leading the way will be junior striker Edwin Sanchez, who's already tallied four goals. Surrounding him is a host of talented teammates.

Logan has already notched wins over Mountain Crest, Sky View and Park City, but the Grizzlies did fall 1-0 to Wasatch a week ago.

Wasatch of Region 10 has traditionally fielded very strong teams, and that seems to be the case again in 2008. You would presume that archrival Park City will be in the 3A mix, though the Miners do have a new coach, and Waterford, which moved from 2A to 3A, should be good as well.

Aside from those four, however, the rest of the classification seems extremely wide-open right now.

CLASS 2A: A year ago, this classification was dominated by eventual champion Waterford, with runner-up Rowland Hall and St. Joseph clearly a step ahead of everyone else.

So now that Waterford has moved up to 3A, you'd think the 2A title would be fought out between Rowland Hall and St. Joseph, right?

Well, probably, despite the fact that a thin St. Joseph squad has dealt with a rash of injuries early and fell to a gritty South Summit squad last weekend.

At the top, Rowland Hall is currently the favorite. Central midfielder Robbie Hull is one of the classification's elite stars, and he's surrounded by excellent players like scorer Jared Accetura, Walker Adams and Donny White.

Once they finally get healthy, expect star midfielder Ben Cilwick and St. Joseph to fight neck-and-neck with Rowland Hall for the championship.

Aside from those two, Christian Heritage has the potential to be pretty solid, South Summit plays a good brand of soccer and Richfield has been destroying people down South.

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E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com