by Daniel Olsen | The first round saw a couple key upsets such as Provo over Mountain Ridge or the Spanish Fork win over Highland. It will only get crazier from here. It’s time to take a look at Round 2 and make a fresh set of picks!
1 Brighton vs 17 Spanish Fork: Brighton got a bye in the first round and deservedly so. They are undefeated this season with impressive wins over top ten RPI teams in Bountiful and Highland. They are hands down the top team in 5A and arguably one of the best teams among all classifications. Aside from consecutive single-possession wins over Olympus and Springville, the Bengals have been routing teams. The orange paw logo that is similar to Clemson in college football must be working some magic.
Spanish Fork had a nice story last week. They weren’t favored to beat Highland but made sure to put up a fight and it paid off. They survived a 33-28 win and proved that they could put up some points against a good team from arguably the toughest Region in 5A.
Prediction: Tyler Creer made sure to let us know that we were wrong to count out his Spanish Fork Dons last week. It might have been because we inadvertently “cursed” Highland by making them the featured image for 5A. He asked that we put Brighton as the image this week. We will grant his wish but I think in this case, no amount of luck or superstitious rituals is going to stop the Bengals. If somehow this results in an upset, I’m gonna say there is some spooky Halloween magic going on down there in Spanish Fork. This has been a remarkable Cinderella run but it will be time for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin for the Dons on Friday night.
Score: Brighton 38 Spanish Fork 21
2 Orem 18 Provo: We move to the Battle of University Parkway where one major highway connects the two major cities in the heart of Utah. Orem, winners of three straight state titles, enters this game as the two seed. They had a month layoff after two of their games were cancelled due to COVID. They still looked dominant against 5A competition as their only two losses came to top 6A programs.
On the other side, Provo has had a larger sample size but struggled. They entered the playoffs with a 3-6 regular season record. They made quick work of Mountain Ridge in the first round with a 34-14 victory.
Prediction: There really is no excuse for Orem to lose this game. They had one game to shake off the rust in a 31-28 win over Lehi after that month hiatus. If they are still the dynasty that got the three-peat last year, they will easily dispatch of a Provo team that lost five games in a row at one point this season. Orem wins big which, for a playoff game in these circumstances, is four touchdowns.
Score: Orem 35 Provo 7
3 Bonneville 14 Alta: There is another team called the Lakers that have their sights set on a championship in 2020. That team is Bonneville. Their only loss was a 42-21 humbling experience to the defending 4A champion Sky View Bobcats. If they and Sky View both win their respective divisions, there will be some debate as to which division is better between 4A and 5A.
The Hawks have a passing grade on the season at 5-5. They don’t really have a signature win this season. They beat the teams they were supposed to beat and lost to who they were supposed to lose to. They can’t be counted out because of the intensity of the playoffs, but the odds remain overwhelmingly not in their favor. Saying otherwise is just taking a page out of The Hunger Games book.
Prediction: Champions find ways to win games and senior quarterback Kamen Best will do just that. He is the LeBron James of these Lakers. This will tough in the first half as playoff games often are but in the end, the Lakers will prevail.
Score: Bonneville 52 Alta 26
4 Salem Hills 13 Box Elder: Salem Hills earned every bit of their high RPI ranking. Their only two losses were close games to Springville and Maple Mountain.
The Bees from Brigham City didn’t begin the season how they would have hoped. They lost their first four games before proceeding to win the next four. They had a convincing 22-8 win over Woods Cross last week in the first round of the playoffs.
Prediction: Salem Hills is a talented team. They are not about to be denied a victory this early in the playoffs. When this game kicks off it will be time for those Bees to climb back in their own Hive. Count on the win to come by about three touchdowns.
Score: Salem Hills 31 Box Elder 10
5 Wasatch 12 Lehi: This will be one of the first games to go on upset alert. Wasatch is a good team that went 7-2 in the regular season. They take on a Lehi Pioneers team that beat Viewmont 52-14 in the first round of the playoffs. They were also within a field goal of Orem in their season finale.
Prediction: Lehi is a team that is perfectly capable of upsetting Wasatch if they play their best. This is especially true if they get overlooked as many underdogs do. There will be an upset in Heber on Friday night but there is no need to worry. There will be plenty of opportunities to get some trick-or-treat candy on Saturday to cope with this upset.
Score: Lehi 34 Wasatch 31
6 Maple Mountain 11 Springville: The Maple Mountain is so magic that when it rains there, Mrs. Buttersworth maple syrup comes out of the sky. Ok, that’s not true. However, it will be raining touchdowns when these two nearby teams face off. Springville lost to these MMHS Golden Eagles 29-15 in the regular season. Count on Kyson Hall to catch a pair of receiving touchdowns early in the game. Maple Mountain will get on a run and won’t look back.
Prediction: It will be the same score in this one as it was in the regular season. Maple Mountain wins by two touchdowns and maintains the bragging rights.
Score: Maple Mountain 29 Springville 15
7 Skyline 10 Bountiful: The Eagles have little time to lick their wounds after The Rock in their season finale stayed green and with their rival Olympus Spartans. It was still a great season as they finished 7-1.
The Bountiful Braves also enjoyed a bounteous supply of wins this season. They also won seven games but it came with four losses as well. They defeated Hillcrest 62-7 in the first round of the playoffs last week.
Prediction: It will be a close game and this time Skyline will not be denied again after that bitter loss to their rivals. They would like nothing better than to face the Spartans again in the Semifinals in Dixie State University. There is plenty of football left to be played before that can happen. For this game though, count on Skyline to get the job done.
Score: Skyline 24 Bountiful 17
8 Olympus 9 Timpview: The Spartans are flying high after their win over Skyline. They better not fly too high because Timpview has a rich tradition and would love nothing more than to put an end to their season.
Olympus has had a good season and they are peaking at the right time. They won their last three games of the regular season and are ready to make some noise in the playoffs. Timpview finished the season 4-4 but looks like they could be a tough matchup in this game.
Prediction: This will be an overtime game and Olympus will find a way to get the job done. They live for moments like these and they will be ready. Count on this to happen. Coach Whitehead and his coaching staff know what they are doing with this team.
Score: Olympus 38 Timpview 31
Featured Image Courtesy Deseret News