5A high school football preview: Cottonwood at Alta

Cottonwood (8-3) vs. Alta (9-2)

5A state tournament quarterfinal

Friday, 4 p.m.

Parry's Power Guide: Alta by 15

All-time series: Alta leads 6-1

Coach vs. Coach: Alta's Les Hamilton leads Cottonwood's Cecil Thomas, 1-0

Last meeting: Aug. 21, 2009 (Week 1) at Alta – Alta 59, Cottonwood 20

When Alta and Cottonwood played in Sandy to open the 2009 high school football season, everything went the Hawks' way.

They broke two long runs on their first two possessions, led by two touchdowns less than two minutes into the game and rolled to a 59-20 victory. The Colts are hoping they don't have a repeat performance, and the Hawks think there's no way they'll have as easy a time when the two teams meet in the 5A quarterfinals on Friday.

"The first time we played them, everything went our way," said Alta coach Les Hamilton. "I obviously don't expect that to happen again. Offense, defense, special teams all had big plays. They're much improved and I think it's going to be real tough battle."

The Colts entered their opener against Alta with high expectations for their return to 5A football. They found out they had a lot of work to do.

"I was embarrassed by the way we played," said Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas. "It's a tough pill to swallow when you get beat like that. Coaches and players definitely feel like we can play better than we did in Week 1."

The Colts have mostly rolled since their loss to Alta, losing only to Bingham and Hunter, and claimed a share of the Region 2 championship. Cottonwood has relied on the hard-running legs of running back of Nadan Hosea, who rushed for 195 yards on a whopping 40 carries in the team's first-round win over Viewmont last week. Quarterback Crosby Jensen has also come a long way since the Alta loss, throwing 29 touchdowns so far this season.

"There's no doubt we've made great strides since Week 1," Thomas said. "I feel like things are starting to come together on both sides of the football. I really like where our defense is right now. The way we played Viewmont is a good indicator of where we are."

Thomas said a big key for his team is getting off to a better start than it did last time. He's also concerned with neutralizing Alta's speed and trying to slow down receiver Zach Liston.