High school football: East knows all too well about Bountiful

Nobody knows better than East that being undefeated in early October doesn't mean anything if you can't back it up with more wins down the stretch.

A year ago, East was 6-0 heading into its region showdown with Bountiful, and was promptly skunked 21-0. After the loss, the Leopards lost the edge they'd enjoyed earlier in the season and finished the year with an 8-3 record and a 30-point loss to Mountain Crest in the quarterfinals.

Off to a similar 7-0 start this year, Bountiful awaits again this Friday night.

"Bountiful took it to us up there last year, and that's still fresh in our kids minds, and they really want to play hard this week and do the best they can," said East coach Brandon Matich.

Bountiful started the year a bit slowly after losing three of its first four games, but it has won three straight and can clinch a share of the Region 6 title with a victory Friday.

"They seem to peak at the end of the year rather than the first, which is good coaching. They're the same old Bountiful, get to the line quick, run those trap plays and waggles and they get after you. They hit you in the mouth," said Matich.

Bountiful has been hitting teams in the mouth all year too. East enters Friday's region showdown as the second-highest scoring team in 4A at 37.4 ppg, while it features the seventh-best scoring defense at 18.6 ppg.

Matich believes a tough preseason schedule that included wins over Pine View, Orem, West and Fremont has prepared the Leopards for a brutal three-game stretch to end the season. East closes with games against three teams ranked in the Deseret News Top 20, No. 20 Bountiful, No. 19 Highland and No. 6 Logan.

East is the highest-ranked 4A team in the Top 20 at No. 5. Matich says the rankings are flattering, but that's it.

"It's a sign of respect and it's nice to be ranked that high, but we don't get a trophy for it and our kids know that, too. We just need to keep our head down and keep plugging," he said.

Unlike some of East's high-scoring games earlier this year, the Leopards expect a defensive battle against Bountiful — especially with cold rainy weather in the forecast. In two previous games this season against option teams, Bountiful's defensive has been fantastic with a 26-9 win over Mountain View and a 27-3 win over Highland.

"They take pride in defending the run. We told our kids all week it's going to be a defensive game," said Matich.

Both teams are playing their best football of the season, which should make for an exciting game at East this Friday.

STAY CONNECTED: To keep high school football fans in touch with the action around the state, the Deseret News will post quarterly scoring updates at deseretnews.com for virtually every game in the state. The Deseret News recently launched a new mobile version of deseretnews.com — deseretnews.com/m/ — so be sure to have your smartphones handy with you in the bleachers so you can scroll through scores from around the state.

email: jedward@desnews.com