No. 12 Orem (7-4) at No. 4 Olympus (10-1)
- 5A state tournament quarterfinal
- Friday, 5 p.m.
- Parry’s Power Guide: Orem by 6
- All-time series: Olympus leads 3-2
- Coach vs. coach: First meeting between Orem’s Jeremy Hill and Olympus’ Aaron Whitehead
- Last meeting: Orem 22, Olympus 21 (2014)
HOLLADAY — Before the 2019 season began, the Orem Tigers and Olympus Titans were widely seen as two of the best teams in the 5A classification.
The Tigers were coming off back-to-back 4A state championships and cruised past most of their competition along the way. Their move up to 5A was going to be more of a challenge, but most observers thought they would still be elite.
As for the Titans, they’d been steadily trending upward and were 12-0 last season before losing a late lead in the 5A semifinals and falling to the eventual champion Corner Canyon Chargers — who went undefeated — and many thought Olympus would be able to reload this season.
Accordingly, both were ranked in the Top 10 of the Deseret News’ preseason state rankings. The Tigers came in at No. 4 and the Titans were No. 10. They were first and third in 5A, respectively (Timpview was ranked eighth).
Because of a number of factors mostly relating to Orem, however, what probably could have been forecasted as at least a potential semifinal matchup will be played in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at Olympus between the fourth-seeded Titans and the 12th-seeded Tigers.
Orem finished the regular season with just a 5-4 record, although it played an incredibly challenging non-region schedule and went just 1-3 in those games, which was reflected in the new RPI system. The Tigers then didn’t help themselves by losing to the Lehi Pioneers in the final week of the regular season.
As far as Olympus goes, it finished the regular season 9-1, with its only loss coming to the Kearns Cougars, 6A’s 5-seed, but two of its six region opponents, Hillcrest and Cottonwood, were among the worst teams in 5A, making it tough for the Titans to boost their RPI.
Salem Hills, Provo and Farmington are the top three seeds in 5A.
And so Friday will provide one of the marquee matchups of this week in the state, regardless of classification. The Titans enter the game with an impressive statistical resume, as they lead 5A in both scoring offense and scoring defense, while the Tigers have star talent in the likes of Noah Sewell, who is widely seen as one of the top 30 prospects in the entire country for the Class of 2020.
“Originally we were hoping if we did see Orem, it would be up at Rice-Eccles Stadium,” Olympus head coach Aaron Whitehead said. “If that were the case, that means that we would’ve had a good season and they would have had a good season. I think we’re two very good teams. I think Olympus and Orem are two of the better teams in 5A, and it’ll make for a great quarterfinal game.”
Last week after the Tigers beat the Brighton Bengals to advance to the quarterfinals, head coach Jeremy Hill was asked about his team’s offensive performance, and in the middle of his response, he echoed Whitehead’s sentiment about this week’s matchup happening earlier than expected.
“It’ll be a great game,” he said. “Should’ve been a game probably in the semis or championship, but thanks to this RPI system, it’ll be a quarterfinal at their place. We’ll be ready for it.”
Orem statistical breakdown
- Scoring offense: 30.2 ppg (7th in 5A)
- Scoring defense: 18.3 ppg (8th in 5A)
- Passing leader: Kana’ipono Kahala-Giron (84-139, 60.4%, 1,350 yards, 9 TDs, 5 INTs), Micah Fe’a (57-105, 54.3%, 790 yards, 5 TDs)
- Rushing leaders: Noah Sewell (51 carries, 460 yards, 8 TDs), Buju Tuisavura (58 carries, 394 yards, 2 TDs)
- Receiving leaders: Jaxon Williams (44 rec., 554 yards, 3 TDs), Brinton Paulson (40 rec., 458 yards, 5 TDs)
- Tackles leaders: Paxton Skipps (72 tackles), Joe Smith (67 tackles)
- Sack leaders: Tauhi Tupola, Maka Vaka’afi (9 sacks)
- Interception leaders: Buju Tuisavura (4 INTs)
Olympus statistical breakdown
- Scoring offense: 41.2 ppg (1st in 5A)
- Scoring defense: 9.1 ppg (1st in 5A)
- Passing leader: Frankie Goodson (43-102, 42.2%, 769 yards, 15 TDs, 5 INTs)
- Rushing leaders: Chase Hopkins (184 carries, 1,564 yards, 19 TDs), Christian Peterson (65 carries, 497 yards, 6 TDs)
- Receiving leaders: Scotty Edwards (11 rec., 316 yards, 6 TDs)
- Tackles leaders: James Sheets (76 tackles), Emerson Conlon (72 tackles)
- Sack leaders: Emerson Conlon (7.5 sacks), Hunter Birdsley (5 sacks)
- Interception leaders: Nate Condon (4 INTs)
Felt’s Facts for Orem High School
- All-time record: 525-309-21 (91 years)
- Region championships: 28 (1935 co, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 co, 1974, 1985 co, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996 co, 2000 co, 2004-co, 2012, 2013 co, 2017, 2018, 2019 co)
- Playoff appearances: 55
- All-time playoff record: 58-47
- State championships: 7 (1962, 1968, 1994, 2017, 2018)
- State championship record: 7-7
Felt’s Facts for Olympus High School
- All-time record: 394-273-9 (67 years)
- Region championships: 14 (1964, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1998, 2001 co, 2003-co, 2011, 2012-co, 2013-co, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
- Playoff appearances: 37
- All-time playoff record: 32-34
- State championships: 2 (1984, 1998)
- State championship record: 2-2