High school football 4A preview: Dixie at Mountain Crest

Dixie (7-3) at Mountain Crest (9-1)

4A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 2 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Mountain Crest by 9 points

All-time series: Mountain Crest leads 1-0

Coach vs. Coach: Dixie's Blaine Monkres leads Mountain Crest's Mark Wootton, 6-0 (including 4-0 when he was at Fremont, and 2-0 when Monkres was at Morgan and Wootton at North Sanpete)

Last meeting: 3A semifinal, Nov. 13, 1992 — Mountain Crest 25, Dixie 21

According to Mustangs coach Mark Wootton, it shouldn't be too hard to determine which team is going to come out on top of the Mountain Crest-Dixie 4A playoff game.

"I think that the team with the fewest mistakes is going to win," he said. "We just can't make a lot of mistakes against them because they have some really talented kids. If we can commit no turnovers and limit our mistakes, then we have a good shot."

Even if the Mustangs can limit their miscues, they still need to have somebody step up and make plays for them. That is why Wootton feels it is such a luxury to have not just one, two or even three players that are capable of doing just that.

"One thing that makes us pretty good is that we're balanced," he said. "Offensively, we have five kids that gained over 600 yards either on the ground or through the air. If a team focuses in on stopping just one, we have another player step up and lead us."

It all starts with quarterback Alex Kuresa. In his second year of starting, the sophomore signal caller has grown, literally, into a better decision maker.

"He is a lot more experienced," said Wootton. "He was raised around football so he had a real advantage over another freshman stepping into that role. He has limited his turnovers and improved his accuracy. He is throwing close to 70 percent in completions. Plus, he is just getting bigger. He was like 125 pounds last year. Now, he is closer to 150 pounds and just getting stronger."

Along with Kuresa, the Mustangs have a dangerous duo in the backfield with Alex Knowles and Ethen Lofthouse. If the defense stacks too many in the box to stop the run, count on Ethan Rasmussen making plays from his receiver position.

Defensively, Mountain Crest relies on many of the same players. Lofthouse and Rasmussen provide senior leadership on a very young squad.