No. 4 Duchesne (10-1) vs. No. 1 Beaver (11-0)
- 2A state tournament semifinal
- Saturday, 11 a.m. (at Orem High School)
- Parry’s Power Guide: Beaver by 31
- All-time series: Beaver leads 4-1
- Coach vs. coach: First meeting between Duchesne’s Jerry Cowan and Beaver’s Jon Marshall
- Last meeting: Beaver 28, Duchesne 6 (1986)
OREM — With the 1A classification folding into 2A this season, it makes sense that some teams don’t have much of a history playing against another, even as small as those classifications have been.
But not having much of a history probably undersells how long it has been since the two teams who will square off in the first of Saturday’s 2A semifinal matchups, the Beaver Beavers and Duchesne Eagles, played each other on the gridiron.
You have to go all the way back to 1986 — 33 years — to find the last time these two sides met, a 28-6 victory for the Beavers. Perhaps fittingly for this weekend, that matchup came in a state semifinal of the 1A classification (Beaver wound up losing to Kanab in the championship game).
That being said, there’s long been mutual admiration for what the other program has done, which includes a combined eight state championships since 2006 (the Eagles won six in 1A and the Beavers two in 2A), with both programs having last won a title in 2016.
Beaver enters Saturday as the only undefeated team in 2A at 11-0 and the heavy favorite, while Duchesne is 10-1.
“They do a really good job overall as a staff,” Eagles head coach Jerry Cowan said. “I think overall that’s why Beaver’s where they’re at, is coaching, and then obviously they have a lot of good, talented kids, so you put those two together, and that’s a tough combination.”
Beavers head coach Jon Marshall had similar things to say about Duchesne.
“They’re a very solid team,” he said. “They’re very well-coached. They’ve got a program that’s used to winning, that’s used to playing here in November and playing for state championships, and they’ve got some really tough kids.”
On the field, Saturday’s matchup will be one of similar offensive styles, as both sides run the Wing-T. For Beaver, quarterback Ryker Albrecht leads the way, as he has rushed for 20 touchdowns and passed for nine more in 2019. He also leads the team with 984 rushing yards, although he’s one of three players on the team with at least 900 yards on the ground (Kaleb Barney and EJ Allred are the others).
The Beavers have averaged a whopping 48.9 points per game this season.
For Duchesne, Brock Adams leads with 820 rushing yards on the year, while Kaleb Sanchez leads the squad in touchdowns with 10.
Defensively, both teams are excellent. Led by McCoy Smith (76 tackles and seven sacks), Beaver has surrendered just 5.5 points per contest in 2019, while the Eagles have only given up 10.9 points per game, with Cael Skewes leading the way in tackles, Ryker Blackburn in sacks and three players tied with two interceptions.
“The challenge for us is going to be figuring out a way to make them have to work and make things tough for them and try to get them off their game a little bit,” Cowan said. “That’s easier said than done when you’ve got a talented team, but we’ve got some good things, too. I think we match up pretty well with them, and I can’t wait to get this all put together and see what we can do.”
Said Marshall: “Our boys have been really, really good at being prepared. We haven’t really had a game where we didn’t come out and weren’t ready to play. Hopefully we can get the same kind of preparation this week and Saturday have the same type of effort that we’ve had all year long. If we do, I feel really confident in our kids’ ability to win, but Duchesne’s going to have a lot to say about that as well, so it’s going to be a tough game.”
Duchesne statistical breakdown
- Scoring offense: 40.0 ppg (2nd in 2A)
- Scoring defense: 10.9 ppg (2nd in 2A)
- Passing leader: Kason Grant (23-54, 42.6%, 490 yards, 9 TDs, 4 INTs)
- Rushing leaders: Brock Adams (109 carries, 820 yards, 6 TDs), Kaleb Sanchez (66 carries, 735 yards, 10 TDs)
- Receiving leaders: Dusty Clayburn (6 rec., 165 yards) Kaleb Sanchez (7 rec., 158 yards, 1 TD)
- Tackles leaders: Cael Skewes (62 tackles), Tristan Farnsworth (57 tackles)
- Sack leaders: Ryker Blackburn (6 sacks)
- Interception leaders: Jordan Clayburn, Dusty Clayburn, Gavin Davis (2 INTs)
Beaver statistical breakdown
- Scoring offense: 48.9 ppg (1st in 2A)
- Scoring defense: 5.5 ppg (1st in 2A)
- Passing leader: Ryker Albrecht (56-99, 56.6%, 1,032 yards, 9 TDs, 3 INTs)
- Rushing leaders: Ryker Albrecht (141 carries, 984 yards, 20 TDs), Kaleb Barney (116 carries, 903 yards, 11 TDs)
- Receiving leaders: Turner Williams (13 rec., 220 yards), Statler Wright (8 rec., 208 yards, 2 TDs)
- Tackles leaders: McCoy Smith (76 tackles), Kaleb Barney (67 tackles)
- Sack leaders: McCoy Smith (7 sacks), Kaleb Barney (7 sacks)
- Interception leaders: Alex Hollingshead, Crayton Hollingshead, Jarret Fairhurst, Treyson Hunter (3 INTs)
Felts Facts for Duchesne High School
- All-time record: 275-213-1 (49 years)
- Region championships: 15 (1983 co, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Playoff appearances: 48
- All-time playoff record: 38-33
- State championships: 6 (2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016)
- State championship record: 6-5
Felt’s Facts for Beaver High School
- All-time record: 478-257-11 (80 years)
- Region championships: 17 (1962, 1965 co, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977 co, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1992 co, 1994 co, 2002 co, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
- Playoff appearances: 53
- All-time playoff record: 70-41
- State championships: 11 (1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1990, 2015, 2016)
- State championship record: 11-10