3A high school football preview: Juab at Juan Diego

Juab (8-3) at Juan Diego (9-1)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 3 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Juan Diego by 31

All-time series: Juan Diego leads 5-1

Coach vs. Coach: Juan Diego's John Colosimo leads Juab's Mike Bowring, 2-0

Last meeting: Oct. 30, 2009 — Juan Diego 56, Juab 0 (3A first round)

Calling Juan Diego's opening round playoff game against Juab a season ago a "contest" would probably be very generous.

It was much more like a rout.

At the time, Juab was still getting acclimated to playing 3A football, and Juan Diego was in the midst of powering its way to a second state championship in as many seasons.

So what unfolded in that first-round matchup last year was a drubbing, as Juan Diego sprinted out to a 42-0 lead at halftime before cruising to an easy-as-it-sounded 56-0 victory.

Twelve months later, Juan Diego and Juab will meet again in the postseason — this time in the quarterfinals — but Juan Diego coach John Colosimo doesn't expect to see anything resembling what happened a year ago.

"I anticipate a game," said Colosimo, "that is diametrically opposed to what it was last year."

On paper, Friday's meeting at Soaring Eagle Stadium promises to be a contest in every sense of the word.

"Both of us are two different teams," said Colosimo. "We're certainly not the team we've been the last couple of years. But we're OK. And they always put out a good product. (Juab coach Mike Bowring) has been a good coach, and I think it'll be a drastically different game than it was last year."

What sort of game does Colosimo think will unfold?

"I anticipate a low-scoring affair," he said. "I think both defenses are good, and I think it'll come down to who gets a few breaks. It could be a 21-14, 14-10 type of ballgame. That's the kind of ballgames they've been having most of the year, and that's the kind of games we've been having."

It's certainly the type of game Juan Diego had in the opening round. The Soaring Eagle did manage to shut out its opponent, Manti, 17-0, but nothing about it was easy.