3A high school football preview: Bear River at Wasatch

Bear River (6-4) at Wasatch (9-2)

3A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Bear River by 2

All-time series: Bear River leads 6-1

Coach vs. Coach: First meeting between Bear River's Chris Wise and Wasatch's Steve North.

Last meeting: Sept. 3, 1993 – Wasatch 33, Bear River 27 (OT).

After giving up 53 points to Park City's high-powered offense in Week 10 of the regular season, Wasatch's defense wanted to redeem itself the next time it got on the football field.

That chance arrived when Wasatch hosted Desert Hills in the opening round of the 3A tournament last weekend, and the Wasps' defense certainly didn't disappoint.

OK, maybe Desert Hills didn't exactly have a prolific offense, but Wasatch nonetheless completely suffocated the Thunder from start to finish, surrendering just three yards of total offense in the first half and creating seven turnovers for the game.

To be successful throughout the rest of the tournament, beginning with Bear River at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon in the 3A quarterfinals, the Wasps know they've got to continue to play that well on that side of the ball.

"That'll be the key because we know our offense is gonna score points. We've scored points all year, even against the best teams," said Wasatch coach Steve North. "It's if our defense will continue to come to play like this the rest of the tournament. That would give us a shot to be in any ballgame if they play that hard and that aggressive. We were just flying around, and they were having fun."

North will hope that his guys can continue to have fun defensively, but that won't be easy when Bear River's triple-option attack rides into town this weekend.

Running backs Payton Wells (974 yards and 10 TDs) and Aaron Spencer (785 yards and 12 TDs) have been a tough one-two combination for Bear River all season, and North is impressed with the Bears' ability to throw the ball when needed.

QB James Taylor has thrown for 1,045 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Dax Sederholm (272 yards and nine TDs) has been his favorite target near the endzone.

"They've got two pretty good running backs, one's about 800 yards and the other one's 900 yards," said North. "They run that little triple-option, but they do have a kid that can catch the ball, that No. 32 (Sederholm). They slip him into some seams. And so they've got a triple threat there — they've got the running backs and the guy that can catch the ball.

"There's more people that we've got to keep an eye on."

Of course, the same sentiment holds true for Bear River's defense.

Wasatch QB Payton Davis leads Class 3A in yards (2,596) and touchdowns (30), and receivers Cory Nielson (13 TDs) and Mike Davis (11 TDs) are 1-2 in Class 3A in touchdown receptions.