3A high school football preview: Desert Hills at Delta

Desert Hills (7-3) at Delta (7-4)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Delta by 7

All-time series: First meeting

Coach vs. Coach: Desert Hill's Jake Nelson and Delta's Russ Henrie, first meeting

Last meeting: First meeting

You can break down Saturday's quarterfinal clash between Desert Hills and Delta a million ways, but ultimately, Delta coach Russ Henrie believes it will come down to just simple two things — blocking and tackling.

"You get to this time of year, and you can make it as complicated as you want or you can make it as simple as you want. This game's a game of block and tackle," said Henrie. "And so that's what we're working on. That's what we have to do. We have to block better than them and tackle better than them. It's really a simple thing. The team that does that will win the game."

Simple to say; much more difficult to actually do, especially against an up-and-coming bunch from Desert Hills that recorded its first playoff win in school history last week and will enter Saturday's game believing it can go even further.

If it can get somewhat healthy by Saturday, the Thunder certainly has lots of weapons to attack Delta with.

Desert Hills' QB is unflappable, its running backs are quick and fast and its O-line is tough and physical.

"They're a well-balanced team, but you know, that's what you expect when you get to this point," said Henrie. "I hope we can match up with them. I think overall in every position they have better athletes than we do. I hope we can just match up with them and try to make a game out of it."

Finding ways to match up and compete is what Delta football teams always do, and the Rabbits will look to find ways to match up and compete this week to make it up to Rice-Eccles Stadium for the 3A semifinals next week.

Delta started out 0-4 this fall but has steadily improved.

"You have to be peaking at the right time, and I hope we're doing that," said Henrie. "I'm hoping that we're peaking at the right time of the season. I'm hoping there's still things we can improve on. I'm looking at lots of things we can do to get better.

"I'm hoping we can continue to increase just a few things every week and get better. If we can do that, that's all you can ask for."