You know all the articles that were written about how Skyline was an underdog and that the Eagles' championship run was probably all but over?
Quick, throw the papers in the bird cage.This dynasty ain't over yet. Not by a long shot.
With an unbelievable 42-14 thrashing of second-ranked Bingham on the Miners' field, the Beehive State's Team of the '90s looked as dominating as ever Friday - and then some.
"We ran into a buzzsaw, didn't we?" sighed Bingham coach Sonny Sudbury, whose team had a better record, seed and ranking than the Eagles.
Skyline coach Roger DuPaix actually summed it up best a few days ago when he claimed anyone with half a brain would pick his team to lose to Bingham.
Anyone with a full brain should know it'd be foolish to pick against Skyline in the playoffs. The three-time defending 5A champions are, after all, the Chicago Bulls of the Utah high school football world.
They had won 12 straight in the postseason (now a record 13) and they hadn't lost a first-round game since 1992.
Still, just about everybody wrote Region 1's fourth-seeded team off in this game against the higher-ranked Miners. Except for the Eagles, of course.
"We were the underdog?" smirked DuPaix.
"They come out here and they feel like they're invincible," added Sudbury. "They have all the confidence in the world."
Brad Jenson led the way in the unexpected onslaught. The junior fullback scored two of his three touchdowns in the first quarter as the Eagles wasted little time in pouncing on the favored Miners.
"We just played with our hearts," said Jenson, who's scored 10 times this season.
Jenson scored on runs of 19 and 33 yards on Skyline's first two possessions. Brodie Reid then notched the first of his two TDs and Bo Nagahi returned a poor punt 30 yards to put Skyline up 28-7 before Bingham even knew what hit it.
"You better be incredible to be down . . . and come back on Skyline," said a stunned Sudbury.
Incredible, however, only described one team on this night. It was by far the best all-around game the 8-2 Eagles have played this year.
"I don't know. If we knew the magic formula," said DuPaix, "we'd do it every week."
The rest of 5A better start playing for second place if that becomes the case.
Quarterback Danny Beecroft ran Skyline's option attack to perfection. He got the ball to 10 different rushers for 277 yards rushing - 95 coming on Jenson's cleats - against Bingham's vaunted defense that hadn't played against a wishbone-type offense all season.
"I'm impressed," said Sudbury. "The name of the game is the offensive line, and they just get on ya."
Skyline finished the game with 368 yards of total offense, most of it coming in the first three quarters as it took its four-TD lead.
Another key factor for the Eagles was their ability to hold onto the ball in the slick weather conditions. They didn't have a turnover, which is quite the accomplishment considering they had fumbled the ball at least once in 16 straight games.
The Eagles' defense did a number on the high-powered Bingham offense as well. Skyline had 28 different players who had solo tackles, assists or interceptions. Linebacker Tom Schreiver, in particular, had an outstanding game with four solo tackles, four assists and a forced fumble.
"We knew we had to play our very best to get by Bingham," said DuPaix, admitting he was shocked by the final score. "I'm real pleased with how the kids rose to the occasion. Our defense played real well."
Skyline will face the winner of the Viewmont-Mountain View game next Saturday. In all likelihood that will be the red-hot Bruins, who were beaten by the Eagles in a 30-28 barnburner earlier this season.