High school football: East prevails as rivalry goes on hiatus

On Friday night, one of Utah's longest running high-school rivalries may have come to an end. West High represents the oldest operating high school in the state of Utah, having been around since 1890.

In the Panthers' storied 118-year history, much of it has been spent battling it out with their cross-town rivals, the East High Leopards.

Tonight marked the 109th time these two teams have met and it was the Leopards who came out on top by beating the Panthers 34-7 at Gean Plaga Stadium. This may be the last time these teams meet as conference foes because West is projected to be over the 4A student limit, causing it to be bumped up to 5A next year.

Many people have a great respect for the East-West rivalry, and coach Larry Eldracher is one of them.

"I'm a real rookie in terms of the city rivalry in some ways. But the East-West thing is unique, it's the oldest rivalry there is and we talked to our kids about it during the week. We talked about being the city champs. We had to beat these guys tonight to be able to call ourselves that. So that's two years in a row that we can call ourselves city champs, and that still means something for all the city schools that have been around for a such a long time."

The story of the first half was defense for both teams. The Panthers appeared to have more energy and were putting constant pressure on senior quarterback Danny Tuai. The West line was able to rack up four sacks and keep the Leopards completely off-balance. Had it not been for a costly West interception, the Leopards would have gone into halftime empty-handed. As it was, however, the teams went into the locker room tied at 7-7.

East by many standards has exceeded expectations this year, and this has been in large part due to its unwavering resilience. The Leopards have been dubbed a second-half team all year, and that is exactly what they were tonight.

Senior running-back Sunia Tauteoli agreed.

"Our team is definitely a second-half team. We showed that tonight. But I have to give all the props to the offensive line; they are the reason I rushed all these yards tonight."

Tauteoli finished the night with 11 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense did its part by keeping the Panthers from scoring, and the offense did its part by putting up 27 points, led by Tauteoli and Tuai, who passed for three touchdowns.