3A high school football preview: Manti at Juan Diego

Manti (5-5) at Juan Diego (8-1)

3A state tournament first round

Friday, 5 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Juan Diego by 34

All-time series: Juan Diego leads, 4-3

Coach vs. Coach: Juan Diego's John Colosimo leads Manti's Cole Meacham, 4-3

Last meeting: Nov. 6, 2004 — Juan Diego 28, Manti 26

Manti ultimately finished as Region 12's No. 5 seed this fall, but the Templars aren't necessarily your ordinary run-of-the-mill fifth seed.

At least not according to veteran Juan Diego coach John Colosimo, whose team will face Manti in the opening round of the 3A tournament at 5 p.m. Friday inside Soaring Eagle Stadium.

"I think that whole region was pretty close, so in my mind this Manti team could've easily been first or second with a couple of breaks here and there," said Colosimo. "Losing to Delta 28-24, (a win) would've made them 3-2 and right there in second place. So the challenge is that we're facing a pretty good team that doesn't appear to be a pretty good team.

"Sometimes our kids can have that impression. We're trying to fight against that, 'Hey, you've gotta come play. It's the playoffs. Not only are they are a good team, but they're very physical and I think they're capable.' It's more of a challenge than it appears to be and it's more of a challenge than our first-round game was last year."

To be successful against Manti — and be successful throughout the postseason — Colosimo said his squad is looking to do two things: Play good defense and be efficient offensively.

"You start with the team we're playing this week, Manti," said Colosimo. "They can hang on to the ball for long stretches of time, and we've got to be good defensively and not give them points and not let them hang on to the ball. And once we get the ball, we've got to be efficient offensively and be able to go down and put some points on the board and put the pressure on them."

"It's a combination of those two things, but I do think we need to rely on the defensive side of the ball."

To that end, the Soaring Eagle will look to its stellar linebacking corps to lead the way.

Taylor Cassita and Eric Heinz anchor along the inside, and Cayden Sanchez and Scott Goossen fly around and make plays from the outside.