It is not likely you can head over to Wendover and find any point spreads on Utah High School sports, but if you could, you can look here for the first round game-by-game prediction that at least, you can win a crappy t-shirt from a Salt Lake newspaper. You are welcome.

Spanish Fork vs. Pine View.  This game could easily go either way. PV with tradition, SF with home field. Last playoff game for PV in a bit. Spanish Fork 24-21

Timpview vs. Olympus. Timpview time to get it going. Even though they have a first place setting, this isn’t the T-Bird team of the past. But easily get by the Titans 54-10

Mountain Crest vs. Salem Hills. First playoff game for Hawks. MC dominates 40-6

Highland vs. Orem Rams have a chip on their Ram shoulder. Orem glad to extend season. Highland 28, Orem 3

Bonneville vs. Bountiful. Two second place teams. Bountiful will sink the Lakers ship 30-10

Dixie vs. Mt. View. A weak Region 7. Dixie good but not great. Flyers get home field win 24-21

Springville vs. Sky View. Mitchell’s team to make some noise in playoffs. Sky View loss to Lakers two weeks ago proves costly. Red Devils 17, Bobcats 14

Provo vs. Woods Cross Road team pulls out a win. Coach Fernandes has titles. Bulldogs go down 17-6

Predictions will continue next week

4A All State Team  by the Deseret News

4A all-tournament team

MVP — Marissa Nimmer, Timpanogos

Forwards

Jaiden Thornock, Bonneville

Gel Dickson, Timpanogos

Alexis Eaton, Springville

Midfielders

Avery Ford, Bonneville

Autumn Woods, Springville

McKenzie Adams, Timpanogos

Tasha Price, Lehi

Defenders

Makelle Yates, Lehi

Lexie Henrie, Timpanogos

Val Buckway, Bonneville

Goalkeeper

Britty McGregor, Bonneville

With a solid 2-1 win over Lehi, the Lakers soccer team arrives Friday for its second consecutive trip to the state finals. The defending 4A champs will square off against Timpanogos, who has advanced to the finals despite being a third seed in their own region. Timpanogos picked off Pine View, then Bountiful before beating rival Springville to make the finals.

Bonneville has been solid all season, winning their Region 5 title and beating Uintah, East and Lehi to make the trip to Rio Tinto. Game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

For much more on the Lakers do some clicking here here, here and here

photo by Deseret News

On sale at the school $5.00 for one $8.00 for two. See Matt Harvey at lunch!

The defending 4A champs continue to get through tough games, this time posting a 1-0 overtime win over rival Ogden. Jaiden Thornock netted the only goal of the game just minutes into the overtime period.

For more on the game, see the Deseret News article

Last week, both teams were involved in a lot of points on the scoreboard. For Woods Cross, they scored in bunches, while the Lakers gave up points in bunches.  That doesn’t bode well for Bonneville’s chances to bounce back and pull off a win on the road Friday.

WX pounded 5A Roy, scoring the first 27 points before letting the shutout slip away late in the game. The Wildcats had a balanced attack offensively with QB Tyler Parson throwing for 129 yards on 12 of 23 attempts. WX also had a nice running game with  just over 100 yards rushing from five different runners.

On the other side of the ledger, Bonneville had a very difficult time against Layton, losing 31-13 in their opener. To the Lakers credit, Layton is going to have a dominating year and the Laker team that lost to Layton is going to see more success against a Wildcat team that faced 5A’s worst team in the Royals.

For the Lakers to knock off Fred Fernandes’ team, QB Manaia Filiaga is going to need to have another impressive outing. Filiaga rushed for 60 yards and threw for 2 TD’s and 182 yards in the loss. Devin Mickles is going to need to relieve some of the burden off of Filiaga’s shoulders. The senior RB was not a factor in the opener.

The key to the game will be whether the Laker defense can put the clamps down on WX. If they can keep the Wildcat touches to a minimum and keep them off the field, this is one of the Lakers games early on that they can pull off a “W”.

Listen to Zac Lambert and Matt Harvey with the call Friday beginning with the pregame show at 6:40 p.m.

picture courtesy of the Deseret News

LAYTON -For the third straight year, Layton posts a defining win over Bonneville. For Layton, there was more rushing than fraternity row this fall.

Junior quarterback Derek Thomas and senior running back Adam Bunting  led a punishing rushing attack, amassing 296 yards on 28 carries as the Lancers defeated Bonneville 31-13 Friday night at Lancer Stadium.

The Lancers’ newest rushing tandem had 193 yards in the first half alone, including an 80-yard touchdown run by Thomas in the second quarter that put Layton up 14-0. It was Layton’s third straight win over Bonneville, outscoring them 92-19 in the previous years.

It took a while but after a field goal extended the lead to 24-0, Bonneville finally got on the board just before the end of the first half on a 70-yard TD strike fromManaia Filiaga to Sage Stireman. Layton, quickly countered and squashed any plans for a miracle comeback.

On their first possession of the second half, the Lancers marched 59 yards on four plays, once again all rushes. Bunting’s 22-yard touchdown scamper put the Lancers up 31-7 and the game essentially out of reach.

For more information on the game, click here and here.

Picture - Deseret News

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2009 BONNEVILLE PREVIEW SHOW on highPod

The Bonneville soccer team looks to find the same success that led them to their first state championship in 2008. They dominated Morgan Thursday  6-1 to get their first win of the year. For more, read the Standard Examiner’s article here.  Picture courtesy of Standard Examiner/Nicolas Draney

Certainly a new look for Region 5. With the addition of Logan and Ogden to the mix, it adds new rivarlies and a very different look. When it is all done for the season though, new teams are not going to make a major difference and the class of the league is found in Cache Valley.

1. Mountain Crest - Pending how the brackets are aligned for the playoffs, Mountain Crest is totalUTAHpreps.com favorite to make it to the finals against Timpview for the state championship. With Cottonwood now in 5A, the Mustangs just became the second best team in the 4A ranks. And they could and will play T-View down to the wire. Why? They are loaded. They have arguably the best QB in the state in Alex Kuresa, who as a sophomore, threw for over 2,700 yards and 24 TD’s. He may not post those gaudy of numbers again as MC is capable of running the ball. Alex Knowles rushed for nearly 1,000 yards, 625 passing yards and 13 TD’s. Schedule wise, MC starts with a tough game on the road against Highland. The Rams lost in a last second contest in ‘08.  Other preseason games include Lone Peak (win),  East (win) at Pocatello (close, but a win). They have the Lakers at home (win) and the list goes on. I see MC losing just one game this season until the playoffs, so pencil in a 11-1 record, a Region 5 banner and a state championship contest against the ‘Birds.

2. Sky View -Kyler Carlsen would like to show there is more than one QB to talk about in Cache Valley. With 4,000 yards and 41 TD’s over the past two seasons, Carlsen has a legitimate case to be called the best signal caller in Region 5.  The Bobcats have built a solid program under Craig Anhder, who has won 75% of his games in the past four seasons. Carlsen is the reason Sky View gets the nod over Bonneville for the second seed. SV plays a brutal preseason that will help them come November. Two losses to Jordan and Cottonwood will toughen up the ‘Cats for Region 5 games. They will go 5-0 after that, until a final matchup against Mountain Crest. A second seed, and a 7-3 record will be the result for the Sky View in 2009.

3. Bonneville - The Lakers are getting a lot of love from the fishwrap (newspapers) in the state and back to back years with playoff wins also help the cause.  Bonneville has five games against 5A schools, that could certainly help them prepare for Region 5 battles, or possibly beat them up for the games that matter most. They have to play at Mountain Crest and must beat Sky View at home for a chance at the second seed and a home playoff game. They should knock off the rest of the Region foes with a balanced attack on offense with Devin Mickles and Connor Stephens both returning on offense. Mickles, a smooth RB and Stephens, a big target at receiver will share the bulk of TD’s. QB Manaia Filiaga has the confidence from his team to lead out. Bonneville will be 1-4 to start out before turning their season around with wins against Roy, Ogden Weber, Box Elder before facing Sky View for that pivotal matchup. Final outcome 5-6, first round playoff loss.

4. Logan - Lots of teams in 3A have sent thank you notes to the UHSAA for getting Logan out of that classification. They have had the size of a 4A school for years and have dominated their Region with incredible QB’s (Riley Nelson, Jeff Manwaring). And perhaps no one is happier than the two other county teams that have heard for years how much better the Grizzlies were than MC or SV. Well, now it is time for Logan to show they belong in 4A.

TUP believes they will show they belong and could even sneak into the playoffs. Coach Mike Favero is one of the best coaches in the state, and while the Grizzlies may lack a little experience, they have a proven system that has done nothing but win. It is possible that Logan could shock this Region and even take second place. But TUP pencils in Logan for fourth place due to the tremendous depth and talent of both MC and SV and possibly a Laker team that could live up to its potential. TUP does not like the Logan schedule with very difficult games at Park City, at Judge, at Mountain View and at Mountain Crest. Their only road win will be against Ogden. TUP sees Logan going 4-6 and just missing the playoffs.

5. Box Elder - New coach, new system, new attitude in Brigham City. However, the Bees just don’t have the horses to compete in this race in 2009. They play a brutal road schedule (six games) and the three home games they play, they will go 0-3 with losses to Bear River, Bonneville and Mountain Crest. A win against Ogden and possibly against Copper Hills will be it. Projected finish 1-8

6. Ogden - Why, O, Why did the UHSAA put Ogden in 4A?  Traditionally a great academic school with wonderful programs in lesser known sports (tennis, track), this Tiger team is not in anyway, shape or form ready to compete in 4A, Region 5 or the Plain City recreation league.  Well, they would dominate the Plain City league and to the Tigers credit, they won five games in ‘08, made the playoffs for the first time in this century. Coach Eric Eyre is doing a good job building a program, but the will finish with just two wins (Stansbury and Ben Lomond) and possible a Region win against BE.  2-7 is TUP’s prediction for ‘09

The goal for the Bonneville Lakers in 2009 is to get turf toe. The Lakers, who were decimated by injuries in ‘08 but would be willing to have the pain of turf toe, come November, only if it is at the new surface at the University of Utah. That would mean that the Lakers, 5-6 in 2008 would be one of the top teams in 4A, which would be a tremendous accomplishment for coach Matt Williams crew.

The Lakers enjoy a experienced group of players that will wear the blue and gold, including Devin Mickles, who will likely lead Bonneville in TD’s from his receiver position. Mickles, known for his speed and soft hands, should be a major threat on both sides of the ball, as he also plays defensive back.

For the Deseret News article, click here

For Salt Lake Tribune blog, click here

Standard Examiner preview, click here