5A high school football: Rough road ahead to semifinals

Each of the remaining 5A playoff teams are one win away from reaching the goal they've had set since they started preparing for the 2009 season.

Win in the quarterfinals today and they get a chance to play on the Rice-Eccles turf next week. It's easier said than done though, as none of the remaining teams have a free pass to get there. Not Alta. Not Bingham. Not Pleasant Grove.

Alta, the two-time reigning 5A champions, plays a Cottonwood team looking for revenge after getting embarrassed by the Hawks 11 weeks ago. Bingham faces Syracuse, which features the stingiest defense in the state. Pleasant Grove has to play on the road against a region champion in Davis. Two upstarts, Lone Peak and Hunter, also play for a semifinal berth.

"There's a lot of parity," said Alta coach Les Hamilton. "I think all four of those games are fantastic games."

No one needs to remind Hamilton how tough it is to get out of the quarterfinals. The Hawks have made it to the turf the last four years, but they have played in dogfights to get there. Alta won its last three quarterfinal games — over Lone Peak, Timpanogos and Davis — by a combined 11 points.

"That's what happens in the playoffs," Hamilton said. "Games get tighter, there are fewer series. We're expecting that (a tight game) from Cottonwood."

The Colts lost to Alta 59-20 when they played in Week 1. Cottonwood trailed by two touchdowns less than two minutes into that game. The Colts are a much different team now and should give the Hawks everything they can handle today.

Bingham has been the state's top-ranked team since it beat Alta in Week 2. Last week, the Miners got past one of the state's most potent offenses in Jordan. Bingham has a completely different challenge today, facing a Syracuse team that allowed the fewest points in 5A.

Pleasant Grove wasn't expected to have much trouble getting to the semifinals with a team that's loaded with Division I players. But the Vikings have been stung by injuries, and they have a difficult test against the Darts today. Davis allowed the second-fewest teams in 5A this season and feature a standout running back in Tanner Hinds.

Pleasant Grove is looking to recapture the swagger it had early in the year and before it ended the regular season on a two-game losing streak.

"You can't play to keep from losing," said Vikings coach Dale Sampson. "It seemed like we came out a little nervous (against Riverton last week) having come off of two losses. We have to get our confidence back. We're in the playoffs and the opportunity is there to get to the next (round)."

Two teams that couldn't have more contrasting styles meet when Lone Peak travels to Hunter. The Knights feature a solid passing offense with quarterback Tannon Pedersen running the show. Hunter loves to run the ball down people's throats and has had a lot of success doing so while winning six straight games.

At the start of the season, few people would have expected the Wolverines to be in position to play on the turf. Hunter, however, isn't yet satisfied with what's been a surprising and successful season.

"Opportunities like this don't come along very often," said Hunter coach Dustin Pearce. "On any given day you never know what can happen. You just never know. I know we'll be the underdogs, which doesn't hurt my feelings. Our kids will battle."

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com