4A high school playoffs: East vs. Timpview

Thursday, 2:30 p.m. — Rice-Eccles Stadium (field turf)

Ticket Information: Avoid lines, purchase tickets at uhsaa.org

TV — None. Webcast — Live stream at deseretnews.com. Parry's Power Guide ?— East by 7

SALT LAKE CITY — If there were 13 minutes in high school football quarters, both East and Timpview very well could be sitting at home right now.

That's how close both quarterfinal games were.

East (11-1) was able to avoid overtime with an epic goal-line stand against Skyline. The Leopards stuffed five attempts after a penalty, two on fourth down from it's own four yard line to preserve the 20-13 victory with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

"It was a big moment; through the years Skyline has always been a good team, and in the playoffs they're even better. Most teams don't come away on the winning end against Skyline in a playoff game because their kids step it up in the playoffs," said East coach Brandon Matich. "So to have a moment like that, first-and-goal from the four, and to hold our ground — even after a penalty and two big emotional fourth-down plays by Skyline — it does say a lot about the character of our kids. They reached down deep and played really hard in that moment and that's a huge playoff moment in East High football history."

Timpview (10-2), on the other hand, edged Westlake 24-17 when quarterback Jake Lloyd found Austin Fullmer from 49 yards out with a mere 51 seconds left to play. The dramatic win flew the Thunderbirds back to the semifinals after a one-year hiatus.

"(This team) has a lot of character. They know how to finish and get it done regardless. Everybody expects us to be the team of old, but that's not us; that's not our identity and we're OK with that," said Timpview coach Louis Wong on the quarterfinal victory. "It's hard to beat teams like we have in the past, and it's going to continue to get tougher. The competition is getting better — it's just something we have to expect. We have to persevere and continue to press forward."

Usually, in the storybook version, teams suffer letdowns after expending so much energy in emotional wins. That's something that Matich can't see happening, simply because the magnitude of the game.