3A high school football preview: Cedar at Juan Diego

Cedar (8-4) at Juan Diego (10-1)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Juan Diego by 17

All-time series: First Meeting

Coach vs. Coach: First meeting between Cedar's Todd Peacock and Juan Diego's John Colosimo.

Last meeting: First Meeting

If you're looking for reasons for why Cedar could potentially be a scary team for Juan Diego to face in the 3A quarterfinals on Friday inside Soaring Eagle Stadium, you don't have to search far and wide.

For starters, Cedar recently returned a couple of key players to the field, most notably star running back Adam Rice (1,209 yards and 10 TDs). Those returners augment what was already a fairly dangerous squad. Despite the fact that half their league is composed of 4A schools, the Redmen still posted a 6-4 overall record and were competitive in every Region 9 game.

Add to that the fact that Cedar has always been competitive in the postseason under coach Todd Peacock, and top-ranked Juan Diego understands that it won't be a cake-walk on Friday.

"They're a solid football team and are always well-coached," said Juan Diego coach John Colosimo. "Todd does a good job with them, and they do have that Rice kid back. He's played the last couple games, so we've got a chance to see him play. He's a pretty good running back — pretty elusive — and they've got two or three other kids, as well.

"It is (a scary team.) It'll be a tough game . . . They've had some tough competition down there playing in a 4A league, and so I don't know that their record is indicative of the kind of team they are. They played some good teams, and they played them tough."

Against Rice and his talented supporting cast, Juan Diego's defense will look to do what it does — shut people down.

The Soaring Eagle hasn't given up a point since Bear River scored a fourth-quarter touchdown in Week 7, and it has pitched three consecutive shutouts since.

"The last four weeks," said Colosimo, "we've really risen to the occasion."

Juan Diego had one of the better defenses in state history a season ago, and while it's taken a while for this year's bunch to come together, it has become solid in its own right.

"They've come together as a unit and have gotten better as the year's gone on," said Colosimo. "We have played all kinds of different offenses from passing teams to grind-it-out teams. I think we're pretty versatile to meet those different kinds of challenges.

"We're physical enough up front to be able to defend against power running teams, and I think we're athletic enough that we can play with passing teams . . . Plus, they're really smart kids."

On the other side of the ball, Colosimo says Juan Diego will try to continue to play with balance.