The quarterfinal round of the 2A football state tournament is always an interesting dynamic.

On the one hand, you have four upset-minded teams who are confident following their play-in game victories the week before. On the other hand, you have four favored teams who are well rested and champing at the bit after a week off.

This scenario almost always favors the higher-seeded home team.

In the four years since 2A football started having every team qualify for the playoffs, but then awarding the top two teams from each region with a bye on the first weekend, the home team in the quarterfinals owns a 14-2 record.

That's good news for San Juan, Enterprise, South Summit and South Sevier, who will look to capitalize on home-field advantage and advance to the 2A semifinals at Southern Utah University on Nov. 7.

Even though history is on his team's side, coach Monty Lee of the top-ranked San Juan Broncos isn't taking anything for granted.

"It's pretty balanced. You're going to have teams that are going to maybe surprise other teams, and if any team overlooks another you're going to be in trouble," Lee said.

His team hosts Kanab in a rematch of a Week 1 battle won by San Juan 33-13. Most people expect a similar outcome 21/2 months later.

San Juan's only loss this year came against Durango, Colo., in Week 4, and it heads into the playoffs with the highest-scoring offense in 2A (34.3 ppg) and the second-best scoring defense (11.4 ppg).

Kanab, which is back in 2A football this year after four successful years at the 1A level, will need to minimize its turnovers to have any chance against San Juan.

The other quarterfinal on San Juan's half of the bracket is Parowan at South Sevier, and nobody knows better than South Sevier about the reality of upsets. They were a home team in the quarterfinals last year but still lost to eventual state champion North Summit.

South Sevier's opponent this Saturday isn't quite as explosive, but coach Travis McAllister won't let his players overlook Parowan.

"We really have to focus on getting these kids prepared from a mental aspect," said McAllister, whose team beat Parowan 24-0 earlier this season.

The bottom bracket semifinals feature Grand at Enterprise and Millard at South Summit, two games the road team is more than capable of winning.

Millard-South Summit is the marquee game of the quarterfinals, with both teams sporting eight wins already this season.

"Millard's always tough, especially in the playoffs," said South Summit coach Jerry Parker. "We can't turn the ball over. We've had a problem with that all year; we're putting the ball on the ground too much."

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com