Just minutes before the final whistle blew on Alta's quarterfinal victory over Fremont last week, word began spreading very quickly throughout the sideline and bleachers about the Hawks' next opponent — the Brighton Bengals.
"Bring 'em on," and "Awesome," and "Sweet" were among the many phrases uttered among the Alta contingent upon hearing the news.
On the one hand, Alta's fans and players would've loved another crack at No. 1 Bingham, the team that beat them in Week 1, but what's not to love about a Brighton-Alta semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium? The rivalry isn't exactly Utah-BYU, but there's definitely no love lost between these East Bench schools.
"It's a huge game," said Alta lineman Jordan Herkimer. "They're a good team. It's going to be battle."
If Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal between Brighton (10-1) and Alta (9-3) is anything like the first meeting between these two teams, it should be another doozy. Skyline (7-5) and West Jordan (9-3) square off at 1:30 p.m. in the other semifinal.
Back on Sept. 16, a 2-2 Alta squad surprised virtually everyone by knocking off the then-undefeated Bengals on their home field 21-16.
"We think they underestimated us, and we know it's going to be a whole different game this time around," said Herkimer.
In that game, Alta's defense bottled up Brighton star running back Mike Hague throughout the game, with the exception of a 91-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. If Brighton wants to advance to its first state championship game since 1997, it must do a better job of getting its best player involved in the offense. It wouldn't hurt either if Brighton did so prior to the final five minutes of the game — which is when Hague got things going in last week's victory over Bingham.
For the Hawks, if they're going to advance to the championship for the first time since 1988, it's imperative that they hang on to the football. Against Fremont last week, coach Les Hamilton's team uncharacteristically coughed it up three times.
Brighton's coaching staff no doubt noticed the trend during film sessions, and surely they'll try and exploit Alta's vulnerability.
While one 5A semifinal features opponents who are very familiar with each other, nothing could be further from the truth in the second semifinal.
This is the first meeting between the teams since 1994, a game won by Skyline 31-24.
In the 11 seasons since that last meeting, Skyline has advanced to the state semifinals every year (13 straight), while West Jordan is making its first semifinal appearance in school history.
Tradition may or may not play a factor in this game.
Skyline knows all about playing on the turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium, which most recently includes a semifinal loss to Davis last year and a preseason game against Kahuku, Hawaii. West Jordan, meanwhile, has never played on the turf.
In reality, that may mean nothing come kickoff.
Even though West Jordan finished third in Region 3 — behind Bingham and Hunter — the Jaguars played both those teams very tough. In fact, West Jordan led Bingham at the half and was tied with Hunter at halftime.
Turnovers ultimately cost West Jordan both of those games, and the Jaguars will need to hang onto the ball against a red-hot Skyline team.
The Eagles limped into the playoffs this year on a four-game losing streak, but those struggles are long forgotten with playoff victories over No. 3 Hunter and No. 4 Lone Peak. If coach Roger DuPaix's team can sustain its recent winning formula, the Eagles might be headed to their first state title since 1999.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com