3A high school football playoffs: Grantsville at Park City

Grantsville (3-6) at Park City (9-1)

3A state tournament first round

Friday, 3 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Park City by 41

All-time series: Grantsville leads 21-11-1

Coach vs. Coach: Grantsville's Tony Cloward and Park City's Brandon Matich, first meeting

Last meeting: Sept. 10, 2004 — Park City 17, Grantsville 12

More than anything, the Park City Miners are looking forward to the journey of the postseason.

Having taken care of business during the regular season to secure the No. 1 seed from Region 10 ahead of rival Wasatch, the Miners head into the 3A state tournament hoping to show the rest of the state what they can do.

That will begin at 3 p.m. Friday in the first round against Grantsville.

"They've waited for these upcoming weeks for their entire football lives — from league little and through high school — to get to this moment," said Park City coach Brandon Matich. "You hope things work out for them. I feel like, as far as seeds go, next to Bear River-Manti our matchup with Grantsville should be pretty good.

"Our expectations are high for ourselves, and because our expectations are high, we only take this thing one game at a time. If we look at more than one game, we're gonna get ourselves in trouble."

Park City can attest to that mantra more than just about anyone. The Miners were upset in the first round twice in a row before breaking through to the semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium last year.

Quarterback Erik Walker and running back Dylan Chynoweth played critical roles on last year's team, and they've led the way for the Miners to follow behind again this year.

Both Walker (1,223 yards and 16 TDs) and Chynoweth (1,711 yards and 26 TDs) have put up Madden-like numbers despite having limited carries because Park City has won so many of its games in blowout fashion. Walker is averaging a whopping 15.88 yards-per-carry and Chynoweth is averaging 13.58 yards-per-carry.

Process those numbers, and it's easy to see why Park City's offense has been lethal at times this fall.

The Grantsville Cowboys should have their hands full trying to slow those guys down, but Matich pointed out he believes the reverse will also be true.