High school football 3A preview: Delta at Morgan

Delta (10-1) at Morgan (9-2)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Morgan by 2.5 points

All-time series: Delta leads 8-7

Coach vs. Coach: First meeting between Delta's Russ Henrie and Morgan's Kovi Christiansen

Last meeting: 3A semifinals, Nov. 11, 2000 — Delta 19, Morgan 0

Aside from unbeaten Juan Diego, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, nobody in the classification has won more games in a row than Morgan. Since losing to Park City in Week 3, the Trojans have reeled off eight consecutive victories, including a signature win over Logan nearly a month ago, to capture the Region 11 title and head into the 3A postseason with a huge head of steam.

So 10-1 Delta knows the battle it will have on its hands when it travels to Morgan on Friday to face the Trojans at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the 3A tournament.

Morgan's win at Logan in Week 8 got the attention of pretty much of everyone in Class 3A, and the importance of that victory certainly wasn't lost on Delta coach Russ Henrie.

"When you beat Logan up there, you have to be a good team," said Henrie. "We've been trying to do that for years and haven't been able to."

Henrie pointed out that Delta High and Morgan High are similar in that both schools come from smaller communities, both compete with hard-nosed, bring-your-lunch-pail-to-work kids and both have proud football traditions to live up to. Because of those characteristics, there should be a wonderful atmosphere inside Morgan High's stadium on Friday.

Without question, it will be extremely entertaining to see how Morgan's talented offense fares against Delta's bruising defense.

Behind stellar running backs Jacob Kinsey (1,173 yards and 21 TDs), Dayton Smith (10 TDs) and Ben Van Campen (372 yards and six TDs), Morgan has averaged 36.7 ppg, but the Trojans will certainly be tested against one of the state's best defenses on Friday.

Delta has allowed just 7.2 ppg and has five shutouts to its name.

He knows it's very simplistic, but Henrie pointed out he thinks the team that blocks and tackles better than the other will win on Friday.

"Whoever does those two things will win the game o flat out," he said.