SALT LAKE CITY — Coming off of last year’s 6A semifinal appearance, and with numerous starters returning, expectations were pretty high for the East Leopards heading into the 2020 season.
Through five games, they haven’t really lived up to the hype.
To be fair East does have wins under its belt against West Jordan and Copper Hills, but those are games it should realistically win with ease every year.
It was the consecutive losses to Orem, Lone Peak and American Fork — and the ugly nature of those losses — that was the biggest cause for concern.
East coach Brandon Matich always tries to schedule tough preseason games because he believes his kids can measure up with the best. Those three losses tell another story. East was blanked by Orem 24-0 in week 2, lost to Lone Peak 32-8 in week 3 and then gave up nine TD passes in a week 4 loss to American Fork, 69-49.
Matich believes a lot of factors have contributed to the 2-3 start, not the least of which is COVID-19 and its impact on the program going back to the spring.
Despite all those early obstacles though, Matich is confident things are looking up heading into this Friday’s showdown with Region 3 foe Bingham.
“I think we’re starting on the upward climb, we seem to be intact right now,” said Matich. “We’ve had some defensive issues in terms of coverage and personnel, but we’re patching things up and simplifying things.”
The humbling nature of some of those earlier losses certainly had an impact on East’s players, but Matich still believes the best is ahead of his team.
“We have to constantly remind them of who we are and where we come from and what it means to be an East football player, and what this program is about and who they represent,” said Matich.
Friday will be East’s first home game of the season, with a limited amount of fans allowed into the game with prepaid tickets.
Matich said his players are ecstatic to finally walk out of their own locker room on game day, especially against Bingham in a rivalry that’s heated up since East made the jump to 6A in 2017.
Bingham won the first four games, including a meeting in the 2017 championship game, but East returned the favor with a quarterfinal win last year to get back to Rice-Eccles Stadium after a one-year hiatus.
Matich knows Bingham will be out for revenge as it looks to continue rebounding from its own slow start this season.
Win or lose, a strong performance is critical for East to prove to itself that it can still compete against upper-echelon programs in the state — something it didn’t do in weeks 2, 3 and 4.
“I think a good showing is very, very important. I think it’s going to be important for our psyche, I think it’s going to be important for the way these kids look down the road and perform and a high level,” said Matich. “It’s a huge deal for us, a game we’re pitting as a region championship type football game even though it’s only our second game.”
Bingham and East shared the Region 3 title with Herriman last year. With Herriman stuck in a rebuilding year, Friday’s winner is all but guaranteed the region title.
“Obviously the winner of this one is probably the front runner for the region title, which is still always important. And both of us want to get on a roll heading into the playoffs. We’re already kind of looking at this as as being a playoff game,” said Bingham coach Dave Peck.
His team dropped back-to-back games to Skyridge and Corner Canyon to open the season, but it has won three straight.
“They’ve been good. They’ve never given up on each other and continued to believe. For me it’s all about the character. When the character part of the team is being taken care of and everybody is doing what they’re supposed to, I believe in good karma,” said Peck. “I believe our team has grown every single week that I’ve been here when it comes to that.”