American Leadership (3-7) at Hurricane (8-2)

3A state tournament first round

Friday, 5 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Hurricane by 52

All-time series: First meeting

Coach vs. Coach: ALA's David Lewis and Hurricane's Chris Homer, first meeting

Last meeting: First meeting

Everything was going according to script for Hurricane, last year's 3A runner-up, as it neared the end of the 2009 regular season.

And then the final week happened.

That's when the Tigers surprisingly lost to second-year school Desert Hills, 27-20, in a game that sent reverberations throughout Class 3A.

Hurricane still enters the postseason as the No. 1 seed from Region 9 and will meet American Leadership Academy in the opening round of the 3A tournament at 5 p.m. Friday, but last week has certainly given the Tigers a ton of things to think about.

"All I can say is that Desert Hills outplayed us," said Hurricane coach Chris Homer. "I thought they had a better game plan, they worked harder (and) they were physical. We made our mistakes. I think they had six first downs and 27 points, so the only way that happens is if your special teams let down and you give up big plays. That's the two things we haven't had happen all year, and it happened.

"I give Desert Hills all the credit, and hopefully this serves as a wake-up call because you just never know. It's been a frustrating weekend, and I think our kids have to do some soul-searching and we'll see if we can bounce back. A lot of people have told me this is gonna be a good thing, but until we win some games, who knows?"

Trying to turn last week's negative into a net positive is clearly the main challenge for the Tigers right now. Up until last week, Hurricane had rattled off eight consecutive wins and had positioned itself as one of the leading contenders in Class 3A.

Homer hopes his kids can show that they've got what it takes to bounce back.

"I'm not sure that a loss is ever good, but I can guarantee we'll have better practices this week — I think we'll be more intense, I think we'll be more focused in film sessions," said Homer. "The only way that this is positive is if we do bounce back, if we are able to survive these first couple weeks."