by Daniel Olsen | After the first two weekends of the state playoffs, only eight teams remain at the 4A classification. From Sky View all the way down to Pine View, let’s take a look at who these teams are, how they got there, and who are the favorites to earn a spot in the semifinals next weekend.
1. Sky View vs 8 Cedar: This will be one of the pair of important games in Cache Valley this weekend. The ironic part is the winners of these two games will face each other in the semifinals. With the 42-12 win over Desert Hills last week, the Bobcats extend their win streak to 22 games.
On the south side of Utah, the Cedar Red did not mess around as they shut out Dixie 28-0 in Cedar City Utah last Friday. We were close in predicting that Cedar would score 28 points. However, perhaps nobody except for maybe the players in the Reds’ huddle thought that they could shut out a Dixie team that had beaten them 24-19 in the regular season.
Prediction: This isn’t too tough to predict. It went almost all chalk in the previous round. Cedar is capable of surprising mid-tier teams. They haven’t been close to the RPI 2 or 3 in Pine View and Snow Canyon respectively. Sky View is arguably the best team in 4A as the top seed and it looks like they will get their 23rd consecutive win. The Bobcats strive for greatness and send a statement to all the teams down south that might want to challenge them in a possible championship game.
Score: Sky View 45 Cedar 20
4. Ridgeline vs 5. Park City: The other game up north is on the south side of the Valley where the Ridgeline Rivercats in the city of Millville host the Park City Miners of Summit County. This is a battle between two elite teams. They are arguably underrated in terms of the RPI but it is tough to say since they haven’t played many of the elite 4A teams in southern Utah.
Ridgeline has arguably the strongest resume of any team not named Sky View. Their only loss was a 17-14 game that went right down to a game winning field goal by the Bobcats at the very end. Park City has two losses that also included a one point loss to the second ranked RPI team in Pine View. Neither team had trouble last week as the both beat their second round opponents by a combined 91 points.
Prediction: I think this will be a close game but it is hard to see the Rivercats lose this one. They are unbeatable by anyone not named Sky View. The Miners are a team that can give them trouble but I think the home team does just enough here to get the sweep for Cache Valley and earn a rematch between the two Region 11 foes next weekend.
2. Pine View vs 10. Bear River: The Bear River Bears are the only double digit team to qualify for the quarterfinals in 4A after their upset over 7 seed Green Canyon. It was a close 32-28 victory in neighboring Cache County. They will represent Box Elder County in this one.
Pine View is the best team to represent Washington County on the southern border of Utah. After losing their season opener to Ridgeline on the neutral site of Westlake High School, this team has won ten straight games.
The Bears didn’t have much to brag about before the playoffs. They had lost three of their final four regular season games. They got revenge over a Green Canyon team that had beaten them a month prior. The Bears are looking like a fun team that got the golden ticket to the quarterfinals.
Prediction: It’s hard to see the Bears winning here. They have a couple very talented players but haven’t quite gotten over the hump over top teams. They have had several close losses so maybe the season is a bit different if the ball bounces their way. I’m thinking Pine View does just enough to pull away for a double-digit victory at the end.
Score: Pine View 31 Bear River 21
3. Snow Canyon vs 6 Stansbury: Snow Canyon took advantage of a young Logan High team to advance to the next round. They are deserving of their three seed as their only loss was by one point to Pine View. Stansbury one by two touchdowns like we predicted but the score was a little higher than we thought. They beat Mountain View 63-49 in a game full of offensive firepower.
Prediction: Stansbury leads Snow Canyon in both passing yards (2154) and rushing yards (2493) through ten games of the 2020 season. They have lost close games to two other good teams in Sky View and Park City this season. The third time will be the charm and this will be the lone upset of the quarterfinals.
Score: Stansbury 38 Snow Canyon 35