3A high school football preview: Morgan at Hurricane

Morgan (8-3) at Hurriane (9-2)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Hurricane by 20

All-time series: Morgan leads 3-1

Coach vs. Coach: Hurricane's Chris Homer leads Morgan's Kovi Christiansen, 1-0.

Last meeting: 3A semifinals, Nov. 13, 2008 – Hurricane 26, Morgan 9.

Under the watchful eye of coach Chris Homer, Hurricane High has blossomed into one of Class 3A's elite football programs.

Having advanced to at least the semifinal round of the 3A tournament in two of the past five seasons, the Tigers have gone 9-2 this fall and stand poised to make it back to the turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium for the second year in a row.

But to get there, Homer knows his guys will have to find ways to get past a program that's been dizzyingly consistent over the years — Morgan.

While Hurricane's football program has historically endured ups and downs, Morgan's has almost always been at or near the top of the 3A heap.

Homer is well aware of that fact, and he realizes his team must be at its best to beat Morgan in the 3A quarterfinals on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"It's such a different tradition compared to ours," said Homer. "Not that Hurricane's been bad, but there's definitely ups and downs over the past 50 years. Some years, we've been great. Some we haven't — we've been really bad. It seems like they're super consistent. It's like they're there every year.

"I still feel like we're in the building mode and trying to stay and become that consistent team, but I think their kids just expect to be good every year . . . I think they just expect to win their region (or) maybe take second, and I think they just expect to go to the semis every year. It's just different expectations for a program that's been super consistent."

Homer is preparing his guys to take Morgan's best shot regardless of who is on the field for the Trojans on Saturday, but there is plenty of intrigue over who will line up at quarterback.

Senior QB Matt Largent missed Morgan's first-round win over Emery after injuring his hand against Juan Diego in Week 10 of the regular season, and his status for Saturday is unknown.

Sophomore Colby Skinner started in Largent's place against Emery.

"From the Juan Diego game to the Emery game, their play-calling changed a bunch because they lost a couple quarterbacks," said Homer. "They went with a sophomore last week against Emery. They kind of had to pare down their playbook, but it's still kind of the same thing that they do. It's maybe not as many plays, but you know what they're gonna try to accomplish with their offense, whether it's the sophomore or the junior or the senior.

"We're gonna prepare like it's the senior, and we'll see who shows up and is ready to play."

Morgan statistical breakdown