by Daniel Olsen | Sky View Bobcats: Another statewide brand just like Beaver, Corner Canyon and Orem have been in their respective divisions. With one state title under their belt, this team hopes to repeat their success this year as they look to defeat the Pine View Panthers. It won’t be easy though, as these are the best two teams in the state. The cats of the north head down to face the cats of the south at Dixie State University at 2 PM this Saturday afternoon.
Which “View” will come out victorious? That is a great question. Let’s take a closer look.
Sky View 24 game streak in jeopardy: While some team called Billings Skyview High School in Montana snapped a 22-game losing streak this year, the Sky View Bobcats of Smithfield, Utah have been on a substantially more positive streak. They haven’t lost in 24 tries and they are hoping to get win number 25 in this much anticipated game. While there have been a few close calls, they’ve dominated most opponents and especially in the state playoffs. They have rolled over Desert Hills, Cedar and Ridgeline respectively within the friendly confines of Sky View High School.
It almost strange for the top seed to have to travel so far down to a college that is in the same city as the second place seed’s school. The Bobcats have done that though as they make the 388 mile trek from one border of the state to the other. The way the Bobcats have been playing suggests that a six hour road trip won’t deter them much.
Pine View hopes to end a streak of their own:
Almost. That’s all the Panthers could say after state championship losses in 1994, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2013. One notable one we have mentioned before was the matchup between two future BYU quarterbacks: James Lark and Riley Nelson. The Grizzlies made quick work of the Panthers in their first year moving down to 3A. Nelson would later beat Lark again on the quarterback depth chart in college.
Those teams in northern Utah have been some of the culprits of this streak. At least in their consecutive losses in 2004 and 2005, those came at the hands of Bear River and Logan respectively. They now face another northern team in Sky View.
The 2020 Panthers have been all but unstoppable with their only loss of the year coming in a close loss to Ridgeline. Ridgeline did just get stomped by Sky View but let’s remember they did take the Bobcats to the wire in the regular season. These Panthers can score when they need to and do it at will. The question will be whether their defense can send a message to Sky View and do it early. In 2005 many predicted they would beat Logan but they got punched in the mouth early and could never get their offense going to the level they needed to.
Prediction: This is tough. The top seed in every other classification has won the state title and done it by double digits. We have projected the winner at every classification. Part of me wants to do the safe pick and go with Sky View. However, I do love the upset pick. Pine View is motivated and their seventh state championship appearance might just be a lucky one. They have looked pretty unstoppable themselves so I’m thinking in their hometown they put on the show and finally get the championship monkey off their back. Dominique McKenzie is going to go off! He had nine receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the last game. Is it possible to surpass that? I think yes. Give me either 3 touchdowns or some crazy 200 yard game and I think that is the gas that will get the engine going for the Panthers. It will be a close one though.
Final Score Pick: Pine View 38 Sky View 31