High school football: Juan Diego still team to beat in Class 3A's super region

Odds are pretty good this year's 3A football state champion will come from Region 11.

Juan Diego and Bear River have won five of the last seven state titles, while the other two belong to Logan — now a 4A school but a Region 11 member when it won.

Then there are Morgan, Judge and Grantsville, each of which has advanced to the 3A semifinals at least once in the past five years.

"It's a super region," said Grantsville coach Tony Cloward.

With back-to-back state titles to its credit, Juan Diego is the obvious favorite to win not only the competitive Region 11 but another 3A state title.

"If we come together and do what we're supposed to, we could take region again. But, we could very easily be second or third," said Juan Diego coach John Colosimo. "It will be fun to see what happens. I'm excited."

With Region 11 crossing over with Region 9 in most first-round playoff matchups, there's an even higher premium this year on finishing first or second. The No. 3 and 4 seeds will open the state tournament on the road, in southern Utah.

"Nobody wants to travel; it's almost a must that you have to take first or second," said Bear River coach Wise.

If 2010 is anything like 2009, the only drama will be for second place.

The final scores of Juan Diego's five region games last year were 34-12, 35-7, 34-7, 55-0 and 34-0. Its closest game was Juan Diego-Judge, but even that wasn't close as the Soaring Eagle led 31-0 entering the fourth quarter.

Juan Diego only returns two offensive starters and three defensive starters, so duplicating the dominance will be tough.

"Region 11 is going to be tough, any team could end up on top. Judge and Bear River do good things; Morgan is always tough. And Grantsville ... they were young last year and brought almost everybody back. They will be pretty competitive this year too. And we should be right up there too. Any of those five teams could take it," said Colosimo.

Juan Diego is the favorite among the five, but after that it's more wide open. In the region coaches preseason straw poll, three different teams (Morgan, Judge and Bear River) all received at last one second-place vote.

That uncertainty will add a lot of excitement to games like Bear River at Morgan on Oct. 1 and Morgan at Judge Memorial on Oct. 22.