High school football 2A preview: Grand vs. South Summit

Grand (7-4) vs. South Summit (9-1)

2A state tournament semifinal

Saturday, 11 a.m. (at Southern Utah University)

Parry's Power Guide: South Summit by 17

All-time series: South Summit leads 10-3

Coach vs. Coach: South Summit's Jerry Parker leads Grand's Dennis Wells, 3-2

Last meeting: Sept. 18, 2009 (Week 5) at South Summit — South Summit 35, Grand 14

Having already lost to South Summit this year, Grand knows what it's up against in the 2A semifinals this Saturday. With that said, South Summit's thrashing of Millard in the quarterfinals makes the task seem that much more daunting.

"It's kind of scary when you look at the score of that South Summit-Millard game," said Grand coach Dennis Wells.

Even though Grand earned an impressive victory in its own right last weekend, a 28-14 win at Enterprise, South Summit played a near perfect game in a 45-6 win against visiting Millard.

"It was unbelievable. I don't know if we can ever play like that again," said South Summit coach Jerry Parker.

Both coaches know a lot can change in one week, and they expect a tight game when these teams meet at Southern Utah University this Saturday at 11 a.m.

Neither coach is reading too much into South Summit's 35-14 win over Grand on Sept. 18 either.

South Summit only led that game 7-0 at the half and 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, but pulled away late by capitalizing on numerous Grand mistakes.

Grand's game plan in the rematch is simple, minimize those mistakes. It also needs to find a way to slow down South Summit's potent running attack.

"They're physical and you have to match their physicalness, our challenge is to play tough. We basically have to stop their option," said Wells. "It's not a normal option, it's a midline option and they run it really well."

Wells said his team has to be disciplined and stay with their assignments against the option, otherwise South Summit could go off again like it did against Millard.

Fullback Levi Thompson is the key to the option as he's rushed for 930 yards and seven touchdowns this year. Quarterback Trevor Lewis and running back Niko Klus are explosive runners as well.