Felt’s Facts – Week 3

Sports don’t build character, they reveal it. – Heywood Hale Broun

With sadness and respect, Felt’s Facts sends its condolences to the family of Cazzie Brown, Hillcrest High School and all those he touched both as a coach and a friend. He exemplified high school coaching – and lived his life – as it ought to be done. Not only the prep community, but the community at large, has lost an important influence for good.

Region 1 Action Already

While most teams play non-league games this week, six of the seven teams in Class 6A’s Region 1 begin league competition. Region 9, in Class 4A, is the only other region with seven teams, but those schools opt to begin their league action next week. In two weeks, 14 of the 18 regions will have started region contests. However, Class 1A North and South, with just four teams in each region, won’t begin their league games until Week 8, on Oct. 6.

Undefeated/Winless

Entering the third week of the season, 29 teams remain unbeaten, and three contests pit undefeated squads, all with 2-0 records, against each other: Brighton at Olympus, Delta at Beaver and Millard at North Sevier.

Six more games match 12 of the remaining 32 winless teams: Cedar at North Sanpete, Davis at Layton, Gunnison at South Sevier, Logan at Ogden, Mountain View at Wasatch and North Summit at Enterprise.

Fast Starts

Eight schools head into Week 3 with their best starts in several years. Lehi hasn’t opened the season 2-0 since 2002 when the Pioneers started 4-0 and advanced to the state semifinals. Clearfield last began 2-0 in 2003 when the Falcons won their first eight games. Viewmont last snared its first two games in 2007, but hasn’t been 3-0 since 2006. Delta hasn’t captured its first two games since 2008 when the Rabbits started 9-0. Milford began the 2009 season 2-0, but with a victory at North Sevier, will enjoy a 3-0 start for the first time since 1994. That year, the Tigers won their first eight contests and advanced to the Class 1A championship game. Should North Sevier defeat Milford, however, the Wolves will see 3-0 for the first time since 2000. Taylorsville started 2-0 in 2014, but the Warriors, who host Alta, haven’t won their first three games since 2002. Also at 2-0, West has its best start since 2010, but the Panthers haven’t opened 3-0 since 1995.

Streaks

Four teams that haven’t lost since last season lead the state with the longest current winning streaks. Duchesne has won 10 in a row, Beaver has taken 10 straight, and Clearfield and Richfield, three each.

First-year Coaches

Just three of the 28 coaches who are new to their school remain undefeated after two weeks. That includes two who are first-time head coaches: Jon Marshall (Beaver) and Danilo Robinson (Sky View). The undefeated coach with previous experience at another school: Eric Kjar (Corner Canyon).

Utah vs. the Nation

Utah teams compiled a 6-7 record against out-of-state foes last week. Thirteen more games featuring Utah and out-of-state opponents are contested this week.

Rivalry Games

Union hosts Uintah in their 77th encounter since 1951; Union leads the rivalry, which was interrupted in 1969, ’70 and ’72, by a 39-36-1 margin. South Summit visits Park City in the 76th matchup between these Summit County schools; SS owns a 40-33-2 series advantage since 1913.

Logan travels to Ogden in their 70th meeting since 1920, but first since 2014; Logan controls this series, 39-26-4. San Juan entertains Monticello as they face off for the 67th time since 1956, but first since 2014; SJ has doubled up on the Buckaroos, leading the series 43-21-2.

First-time Matchups (11)

• American Fork vs. Servite (Anaheim, Calif.), at Mission Viejo, Calif.
• Desert Hills at Mission Hills (San Marcos, Calif.)
• East at Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
• Orem vs. Bakersfield (Calif.), at Mission Viejo, Calif.
• Ridgeline vs. Raymond (Alberta, Canada), at Utah State University
• Roy at Skyridge
• Summit Academy at Judge Memorial
• Timpanogos at Canyon View
• Timpview vs. Del Oro (Loomis, Calif.), at Mission Viejo, Calif.
• Viewmont at Green Canyon
• Wayne at Richfield J.V.

Renewed Series

• West Jordan travels to Bear River in their third meeting. BR won the first two encounters in 1981 and ’82.
• Beaver entertains Delta in their 17th meeting, but first since 1992. Delta holds a 12-3-1 series lead over the Beavers.
• Brighton invades Olympus in their 21st meeting, but first since 1992. The Bengals have a narrow 11-9 series lead over Oly.
• Bountiful holds a 7-3 lead over visiting Granger as they pair off for the first time since 1995.
• Parowan heads to Ely, Nev., to tangle with White Pine; they last met in 2005 and WP leads the series 2-0.
• Riverton entertains Provo in their third-ever encounter; Riverton defeated the Bulldogs in 2005 and Provo returned the favor in ’06.
• North Sanpete hosts Cedar in their first matchup since 2007; Cedar leads the series, 5-2.
• Sky View and Springville clash for the third time, this year at Utah State University. Springville claimed first-round state tournament victories over the Bobcats in 1985 and 2009.
• Snow Canyon hosts Las Vegas in their sixth meeting and first since 2011, but the Warriors have yet to defeat the out-of-state Wildcats.

Milestone Games

Duchesne seeks its 250th win … Carbon takes the field for the 850th time. Only 17 schools have played more games.

Among coaches, Brandon Matich directs his 150th game in stints at Park City (2005-09) and East (since 2010).

Career Numbers

Two players have improved their positions among the top-20 in several career categories.

Taylorsville’s Dane Leituala ranks 12th in total offense (7,716 yards).

Lehi’s Cammon Cooper ranks 16th in total offense (7,339 yards), 12th in touchdown passes (71), fourth in completions (604) and fifth in attempts (988).

In addition, three receivers joined the 2,000 reception-yards club. Alta’s Zach Engstrom has 2,231 yards (the 20th-most in state history), Dixie’s Hobbs Nyberg has 2,157 (23rd most) and Lehi’s Kade Moore, 2,024 (29th most). All-time, a total of 31 players have caught passes for at least 2,000 yards.

See you on the sidelines!

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