3A high school football preview: Delta at Park City

Delta (7-4) at Park City (10-1)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Park City by 20

All-time series: Park City leads 3-1

Coach vs. Coach: Park City's Brandon Matich leads Delta's Russ Henrie, 1-0.

Last meeting: Sept. 4, 2009 (Week 3) at Delta – Park City 41, Delta 17.

To get back to the turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Park City Miners know they must first pass a big test.

That test is Delta High.

Park City might've beaten Delta 41-17 when those two 3A powers collided back in Week 3 of the preseason, but that game was actually quite a bit scarier for the Miners than that final score might indicate.

Though it did trail 20-3 at halftime, Delta scored on back-to-back possessions to start the third quarter, and the Rabbits were a whisker or two away from being able to get all the way back into the game before Park City managed to deliver several knock-out blows.

Flash forward to the present, and Park City knows it'll have to play well from start to finish to beat Delta again when these two teams meet in the 3A quarterfinals on Friday at 4 p.m. inside Park City's stadium.

"We dial in on every opponent, and we're puttin' all our heart and soul into Delta right now," said Park City coach Brandon Matich. "They're a scary opponent, and we know it's gonna be a dog-fight on Friday. It's gonna be a real physical football game . . . Coach (Russ) Henrie does a great job of running a terrific program and carrying on a terrific tradition of Delta football."

Quarterback Erik Walker and running backs Dylan Chynoweth, Mat Christensen and Andy Proctor have helped power Park City's high-octane offense this fall and have made it one of the most potent attacks in the state.

On Friday, though, Matich expects them to have their hands full.

"Their defensive coordinator, Dennis DeLoach, does some different things defensively," said Matich. "He changes a lot of things, kind of like coach (Steve) North from Wasatch. He does a variety of different things with a 4-2-5.

"They really like to submarine their defensive line into our offensive line to help prevent our offensive line from climbing to the second level against their linebackers. It's an interesting concept. It's an interesting way to coach their kids, but it does present problems for us, something we'll have to prepare for."

Going the other way, Park City will have to find ways to keep Delta star tailback Derek Peterson quiet. With 1,608 yards and 19 TDs, Peterson is second only to Chynoweth (1,844 yards and 30 TDs) in all of Class 3A in those categories.