Interlopers
Last year, No. 1 seeds filled 11 of the 12 semifinal spots in the three largest classifications. This season, top-seeded teams occupy just eight of those berths, the fewest number since 2006 when only seven No. 1 seeds advanced to the semis.
Fourth-seeded Judge leads the four gatecrashers – Jordan, Highland and Hurricane are the others – as the lowest seeded team to make the semifinals since fourth-seeded Snow Canyon in 2006. Perhaps Judge will take motivation from the Warriors, which advanced to the 3A finals that year. However, only top-seeded teams have won championships in the three largest classifications since fourth-seeded Skyline surprised the field by grabbing the 5A trophy in 2005.
More Judge
Teams that are forced to win a region playoff just to qualify for the state tournament don't typically fare very well in the playoffs. Through last week, 149 such teams have a 55-139 (.284) all-time record in the state playoffs. Nine of those actually won state championships, but only two since 1973 under the current four-game tournament format – Bountiful in 1979 and Dixie in 1998.
Two weeks ago, Judge became the first team to win a region playoff and then a state tourney contest since Pleasant Grove in 2005. Last week, the Bulldogs became the first to snatch two playoff victories since that '98 Dixie squad. In the process, Judge also won its 50th playoff game.
Longing for a Title
Of the 12 semifinalists playing this week, three have never won a state 11-man football championship: Hurricane, now in its 62nd season, Fremont, now playing its 17th, and Lone Peak, currently in its 14th year. Hurricane did win six-man titles back in 1947 and '48.
Championship Rematches
Teams repeating in the finals aren't all that unusual, but championship-game rematches are.
The Duchesne-Rich title game in 1A and the San Juan-South Summit championship contest in 2A reprise last year's finals. It's just the 12th and 13th time the same teams have met in consecutive championships. (Of the previous 11 times, the same schools actually faced-off in three straight title games five times. The most recent: Northridge vs. Skyline in 2001, '02 and '03.)
Even more rare: Only once before have two pairs of teams played in consecutive championships. That happened in 1969, '70 and '71 when Judge battled Payson and Beaver clashed with Monticello all three years.
Should Hurricane and Juan Diego advance again to this year's 3A finals, it would mark the first time three pairs of teams have appeared in back-to-back championships at the same time.
Another Anomaly
Duchesne and Rich match up for the fourth time in the finals as do San Juan and South Summit. Only Beaver and Kanab have met more times in the finals – seven – while three other pairs have also clashed four times (Box Elder-Jordan, Judge-Payson and Orem-Skyline).
Timpview's Streak
Before losing to Springville, the Thunderbirds had won 17 consecutive playoff games, trailing only Skyline, which won 23 straight from 1995-2000. Only East (1919-23) and Skyline (1995-99) have won more consecutive state championships, with five each, than Timpview, which tied Millard (1950-53) with four in a row.
Class 5A Semifinals – Thursday (only Bingham repeats from last year)
Fremont (10-1) vs. Lone Peak (11-1), 11 a.m.
Series history: Lone Peak leads 1-0.
Only meeting: The Knights captured a home 42-28 first-round joust in the 2000 Class 4A tournament.
Coach vs. Coach: First meeting between Fremont's Kory Bosgieter and Lone Peak's Tony McGeary.
Current winning streaks: Fremont 10 (school record), Lone Peak 9.
Fremont's last semifinal: 2006, lost to Alta 28-0. The Silverwolves make only their second trip to the semis in nine seasons after three appearances in four years from 1998-2001. Fremont has advanced to the finals just once, in 1995.
Lone Peak's last semifinal: 2004, defeated Box Elder before losing to Timpview in the finals. That 2004 appearance was the Knight's third consecutive semifinal but was followed by a five-year drought.
Fremont's playoff record (14th appearance in 17 seasons): 17-13; semifinal record: 1-4.
Kory Bosgieter's playoff record (seventh appearance in 12 seasons, second at Fremont in three seasons): 6-5 including 4-4 at Weber (1994-2002; 4A championship in '99) and 2-1 at Fremont (2008-10). Semifinal record: 1-0 (at Weber, 1999).
Lone Peak's playoff record (12th appearance in 14 seasons): 15-11; semifinal record: 2-1.
Tony McGeary's playoff record (third appearance in three seasons): 3-2; first semifinal.
Extra Point 1: Fremont has enjoyed the second biggest turnaround this season, improving 4.5 games from 5-5 to 10-1 so far. (East is first, with a six-game improvement, going from 1-8 to 8-3.) Just two years ago, Fremont was 1-9.
Extra Point 2: Both Fremont and Lone Peak have matched their most-ever season wins. Fremont also won 10 games in 2006 and LP won 11 in 2002.
Bingham (11-0) vs. Jordan (9-3) – 2:30 p.m.
Series history: Tied 21-21-1 (first met in 1910). Bingham has won seven of the last eight in the series.
Last meeting: Bingham conquered the 'Diggers 62-42 on Oct. 31, 2009 in a 5A first-round matchup at Bingham.
Coach vs. Coach: Bingham's Dave Peck is 1-0 vs. Jordan's Eric Kjar.
Current winning streaks: Bingham 22 (school record), Jordan 4.
Bingham's last semifinal: 2009, eliminated Alta 28-19 en route to the 5A crown. The Miners appear in the semis for a school-record fifth consecutive season.
Jordan's last semifinal: 1998, nipped Hunter 29-28 in overtime before losing to Skyline in the finals.
Bingham's playoff record (38th appearance in 87 seasons, six state championships): 39-31; semifinal record: 8-8.
Dave Peck's playoff record (15th appearance in 17 seasons, 11th at Bingham in 11 seasons): 23-13 including 1-1 at North Sanpete (1984), 1-4 at Cyprus (1995-99) and 21-8 at Bingham (2000-10, two state titles). Semifinal record: 3-3, all at Bingham.
Jordan's playoff record (40th appearance in 101 seasons, 11 state titles): 45-28; semifinal record: 11-6.
Eric Kjar's playoff record (second appearance in two years): 2-1; first semifinal.
Extra Point 1: Bingham is 70-7 over six seasons since 2005. Over the same six-year span, only Timpview (67-7), Juan Diego (62-13) and Alta (60-19) have also won at least 60 games.
Extra Point 2: Jordan has averaged 57 points in its two playoff games. That's the most since Northridge averaged 67 in its first pair of postseason contests in 2001.
Class 4A Semifinals – Friday (Mountain Crest and Springville repeat from last year)
Highland (8-4) vs. Springville (10-1) – 11 a.m.
Series history: Highland leads 3-0.
Last meeting: Highland 44-34 in a 2001 Class 4A first-round game at Springville. They also met in the '95 and '96 regular season.
Coach vs. Coach: First meeting between Highland's Brody Benson and Springville's Scott Mitchell.
Current winning streaks: Highland 3, Springville 7.
Highland's last semifinal: 2006, tripped Box Elder 24-21 before losing to Timpview in the finals.
Springville's last semifinal: 2009, beat Dixie 29-21 before falling to Timpview in the finals.
Highland's playoff record (37th appearance in 54 seasons, four state championships): 46-32; semifinal record: 8-8.
Brody Benson's playoff record (fifth appearance in five seasons): 7-4; semifinal record: 1-0.
Springville's playoff record (41st appearance in 94 seasons, one state title): 22-39; semifinal record: 4-3.
Scott Mitchell's playoff record (third appearance in three seasons): 5-2; semifinal record: 1-0.
Extra Point: Springville is in back-to-back semifinals for the first time since appearing in the penultimate game three straight years from 1974-76.
Bountiful (9-3) vs. Mountain Crest (9-2) – 2:30 p.m.
Series history: tied at three games each. Most recently, they faced-off during the regular season from 2005-08 with the Mustangs taking three of the four battles.
Last meeting: MC 21-7 on Sept. 26, 2008.
Coach vs. Coach: Mountain Crest's Mark Wootton is 3-1 vs. Bountiful's Larry Wall.
Current winning streaks: Bountiful 4, MC 4.
Bountiful's last semifinal: 2003, blasted Lone Peak 26-8 on the way to its second straight 4A title.
MC's last semifinal: 2009, lost to Timpview 38-21. Bountiful's playoff record (35th appearance in 55 seasons, five state championships): 45-29; semifinal record: 9-3.
Larry Wall's playoff record (24th appearance in 26 seasons, four state titles): 31-10; semifinal record: 5-3.
Mountain Crest's playoff record (22nd appearance in 28 seasons, three state titles): 38-18; semifinal record: 5-7.
Mark Wootton's playoff record (16th appearance in 20 seasons, seventh in seven seasons at MC): 18-14 including 6-9 at North Sanpete (1991-2003) and 12-5 at MC (2004-10; one state championship). Semifinal record: 1-6 including 0-3 at NS and 1-3 at MC.
Extra Point 1: The Mustangs are in the semifinals for the fourth straight year for the first time in school history, but lost to Timpview the past three. MC last played in the championship game when the Mustangs won it all in 2005.
Extra Point 2: Before winning an opening round game this season, Bountiful was 1-6 in the playoffs since losing a 2004 quarterfinal.
Extra Point 3: Larry Wall has now coached 294 of Bountiful's 584 games – just over 50 percent – and 201 of the Braves' 346 victories, or 58 percent.
Class 3A Semifinals (Hurricane and Juan Diego repeat from '09)
Delta (8-4) vs. Hurricane (11-1) – Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Series history: Delta leads 30-10. Since the series resumed on a near-annual basis in 2003 – they met twice in '07 but not in '08 – they've split their eight matchups 4-4.
Last meeting: Hurricane 20-8 on Aug. 27 (Week 2) at Delta.
Coach vs. Coach: Delta's Russ Henrie and Hurricane's Chris Homer are tied at three each.
Current winning streaks: Delta 8, Hurricane 2.
Delta's last semifinal: 2006, lost to Snow Canyon 27-7. The Rabbits haven't been to the title contest since taking the 3A crown in 2001.
Hurricane's last semifinal: 2009, defeated Park City 24-19 before losing to Juan Diego in the finals for the second straight year.
Delta's playoff record (50th appearance in 88 seasons, nine state championships): 62-40; semifinal record: 12-14.
Russ Henrie's playoff record (sixth appearance in six seasons): 8-5; semifinal record: 0-1.
Hurricane's playoff record (30th appearance in 62 seasons): 20-29; semifinal record: 5-2.
Chris Homer's playoff record (seventh appearance in nine seasons): 10-6; semifinal record: 2-1.
Extra Point 1: Only Skyline (86 wins) and Millard (75) have more tournament victories than Delta (62). And only Millard (120 games) and Skyline (112) have competed in more postseason contests than Delta (102). And only Millard (58 appearances) and Box Elder (54) have qualified for the state tournament more times than Delta (50).
Extra Point 2: Hurricane is in the semifinals for the third year in a row for the first time in school history. With a win, the Tigers would reach 12 season victories for the third time, matching 2005 and '08.
Juan Diego (10-1) vs. Judge Memorial (7-5) – Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Series history: Juan Diego leads 7-4 and has taken three straight from the Bulldogs.
Last meeting: Juan Diego 21-7 on Sept. 24 (Week 6) at JD.
Coach vs. Coach: JD's John Colosimo leads Judge's James Cordova, 6-3.
Current winning streaks: Juan Diego: 10, Judge 3.
Juan Diego's last semifinal: 2009, defeated Wasatch 35-14 en route to its second consecutive 3A title.
Judge Memorial's last semifinal: 2007, blitzed Union 49-20 before falling to Logan in the finals.
JD's playoff record (10th appearance in 11 seasons, four state championships): 21-5; semifinal record: 5-0.
John Colosimo's playoff record (18th appearance in 23 seasons, tenth in 11 seasons at JD): 26-13 including 5-8 at Judge (1985-96) and 21-5 at Juan Diego (2000-10, four state titles). Semifinal record: 6-0 including 1-0 at JM and 5-0 at JD.
Judge's playoff record (38th appearance in 85 seasons, nine state championships): 50-28; semifinal record: 14-5.
James Cordova's playoff record (seventh appearance in eight seasons): 7-6; semifinal record 1-0.
Extra Point 1: Juan Diego is in its third straight semifinal for second time, also appearing from 2002-04. JD leads state in playoff game winning percentage with a .808 mark.
Extra Point 2: JD is 37-2 since 2008, the best in the state over those three years. By comparison, Bingham is 35-4, Timpview is 34-3 and Hurricane is 34-6 during the same time frame.
Class 2A Finals – Saturday, 2 p.m. at Southern Utah University
San Juan (11-0) vs. South Summit (10-1)
Series history: San Juan leads 5-0. SJ captured the 1998, 2000 and '09 Class 2A titles over the Wildcats.
Last meeting: San Juan 26-6 on Sept. 17 (Week 5) at South Summit.
Coach vs. Coach: San Juan's Monte Lee is 3-0 vs. South Summit's Jerry Parker.
Current winning streaks: San Juan 19 (school record), South Summit 6.
San Juan's last final: 2009, defeated South Summit 7-0. Also won championships in 1989, '98, 2000 and '06.
South Summit's last final: 2009, lost to San Juan 7-0. Won state titles in 1977, '78, '84 and '88.
San Juan's all-time record (55th season): 351-205-4 (.630); playoff record (36th appearance): 50-30 (.625); championship game record: 5-6 (.455).
Monte Lee's all-time record (eighth season): 74-17 (.813); playoff record (eighth appearance): 12-5 (.706); championship game record: 2-1 (lost to Grand in 2005, defeated Millard in '06, defeated South Summit in '09).
South Summit's all-time record (73rd season): 313-318-8 (.496); playoff record (34th appearance): 38-29 (.567); championship game record: 4-6 (.400).
Jerry Parker's all-time record (ninth season, 1992-94 and 2005-10): 44-40 (.524); playoff record (eighth appearance): 7-7; championship game record: 0-1.
Extra Point 1: San Juan posted its school-record seventh shutout of the season, the most by any school since Bear River also blanked seven opponents in 2003. Beaver was the last to whitewash more than that, holding eight foes scoreless in 1979.
Extra Point 2: Both teams have scored 84 points in the playoffs, winning by similar scores. San Juan walloped Kanab 47-14 and South Sevier 37-0 while South Summit blasted Beaver 46-0 and Millard 38-7.
Extra Point 3: With a win, San Juan will have 12 season victories, the most since its 13-0 season in 2000. If South Summit captures the state crown, it will have 11 season wins, matching the most since its 11-2 season in 1999.
Extra Point 4: San Juan is 32-2 since 2008. The only schools with as many victories over that three-year span are Juan Diego (37-2), Bingham (35-4), Hurricane (34-6) and Timpview (34-3). But only Juan Diego has as few losses.
Extra Point 5: In the 1998 title clash between these two schools, San Juan mounted the biggest comeback in championship game history. Down 20-0 in the first quarter, the Broncos scored 36 straight to win 36-26.
Class 1A Finals – Saturday, 12 noon at Jordan High
Duchesne (10-1) vs. Rich (8-3)
Series history: Rich leads 21-10. The Rebels have captured 17 of the last 21 going back to 1993 (Duchesne won in '05, '06 and on Oct. 8). Rich defeated the Eagles in the 1995, '96 and 2009 Class 1A championship games.
Last meeting: Duchesne 14-13 in overtime on Oct. 8 (Week 8) at Rich.
Coach vs. Coach: Rich's Ashley Brown is 3-1 vs. Duchesne's Bill Hoopes.
Current winning streaks: Duchesne 9, Rich 4.
Duchesne's last final: 2009, lost to Rich 25-0. The Eagles won their only state football crown in 2006 and compete in their third title game in five years.
Rich's last final: 2009, defeated Duchesne 25-0. The Rebels are in the finals for the third time in four years and the sixth time in 10 seasons. Won state titles in 1994, '95, '96, 2002 and '09.
Duchesne's all-time record (40th season): 184-197-1 (.483); playoff record (31st appearance): 19-29 (.396); championship game record: 1-3.
Bill Hoopes' all-time record (third season): 23-12 (.657); playoff record (third appearance): 3-2 (.600); championship game record: 0-1.
Rich's all-time record (26th season): 168-105 (.615); playoff record (26th appearance): 29-20 (.592); championship game record: 5-5.
Ashley Brown's all-time record (11th season): 80-43 (.650); playoff record (11th appearance): 15-8 (.652); championship game record: 2-3 (lost to Monticello in 2001, defeated Enterprise in '02, lost to Monticello in '04, lost to Kanab in '07, defeated Duchesne in '09).
Extra Point: At 10-1, Duchesne has posted just its third double-digit win season; the Eagles went 13-0 in 2006 and 10-3 last year.
Kuresa and More
It's been a while since updates on Mountain Crest's Alex Kuresa career records have been posted here. Last week he vaulted over the 12,000-yards of total offense mark and the 10,000 passing-yard mark.
Alex amassed 447 yards of total offense against East to now stand at 12,040. (The previous record was 9,947.) With 341 passing yards, he currently has 10,214. (The previous record was 8,636.)
Kuresa has tossed 95 touchdowns (previous record was 79).
Against Payson on Oct. 29, he eclipsed the attempts record (1,020) and now has 1,062. Alex has completed 695 passes (previous record was 586) for his fifth career record.
Kuresa is responsible for 122 touchdowns, just eight behind state-record holder Riley Nelson (Logan, 2003-05).
About the only accomplishment he lacks is leading the Mustangs to a state championship.
With 3,811 yards of total offense this season – ranking 14th all-time – he could break into the top 10 with just 129 more yards and if he makes his average for two more games, he would finish in the top five. Kuresa has 3,246 passing yards this year, good for 12th all-time and 1,196 short of record-holder Alex Hart (Jordan, 2009).
However, Kuresa doesn't lead the state in total offense this year: that honor currently belongs to Jordan's McCoy Hill who has 3,971 yards. Others with over 3,000 yards of total offense in 2010 include Pine View's Alec Mecham, 3,367, Enterprise's Slade Moyle, 3,246 and Timpview's Christian Covey, 3,139.
Moyle ended his career ninth all-time in total offense with 6,477 yards. He was responsible for 81 touchdowns, the 11th most all-time and finished 26th in career passing yards with 4,904.
Hurricane's Cory Edward has booted 164 career extra points, placing him second all-time behind Pine View's Riley Stephenson, who kicked 194 from 2002-05.