1A high school football preview: Duchesne vs. Altamont

Duchesne (9-1) vs. Altamont (7-3)

1A state tournament semifinal

Saturday, 11 a.m. (At Snow College)

Parry's Power Guide: Duchesne by 6

All-time series: Duchesne leads 34-27

Coach vs. Coach: Duchesne's Billy Hoopes leads Altamont's Mick Fieldstead, 2-0

Last meeting: Oct. 22, 2010 — Duchesne 26, Altamont 0

Two weeks ago Duchesne played a perfect football game in a 26-0 victory over Altamont on the final day of the regular season.

The teams will meet again this Saturday at Snow College in the first of two 1A semifinal games.

Duchesne hasn't played a game since beating Altamont, and coach Billy Hoopes knows his players can't afford to take rival Altamont lightly.

"Going into our game our kids expect to win, but it's not going to be an easy game. Those guys could beat us. They have as good of athletes as anyone in the state," said Hoopes. "I don't think our score from a few weeks ago is going to have any bearing on this game."

In that previous outing Braiden Despain rushed for 124 yards, Jerry Ginn added 101 yard and Macoy Young chipped in with 73.

Just as impressive was the Eagles' effort defensively to earn their second shutout of the season.

"We could not have played better on defense honestly. I felt our game plan was good and the kids executed it as well as they could," said Hoopes.

Another perfect game is unlikely, which is why Hoopes said execution is going to be very important. Whether it's a close game or a blowout, Duchesne has been almost perfect this year and the top-ranked Eagles are favored to advance to next week's 1A state championship game.

Altamont is more than capable of pulling off the upset.

Not only are the Longhorns confident again after a 51-12 first-round victory over Milford last weekend, but they know their loss to Duchesne two weeks ago was deceptively lopsided.

Altamont coach Mick Fieldstead has said repeatedly that the 26-0 loss was arguably the team's worst performance of the season.

His team's 28-22 loss to Rich on Sept. 24 is more indicative of how he expects the Longhorns to compete in Ephraim this Saturday.

"We just need to execute better," said Fieldstead.