There were also plenty of stellar individual performances while many athletes have played perhaps their last game in organized football.

Here’s a look back at the biggest storylines:

Payson playoff breakthrough: When Payson defeated Mountain View in the first round of the 4A playoffs, it was the first time the Lion program had won a playoff game since 1986. It was so long ago that the team they beat by a score of 28-14, South High , doesn’t even exist now.

And history is also repeating itself a bit as Payson will now play Provo. Like in 1986, Provo won the region title then eliminated the Lions 16-14 in the then 3A quarterfinals.

Payson finished 5-5 that year and beat Timpview 7-0 in the second game of the season. Timpview actually defeated Provo 36-0 in the semifinals then upended Bear River 14-8 to win its first state title in school history.

If Payson (6-5) can pull the upset over Provo (8-2), it would insure the Lions their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1970-1971.

Payson was a top gridiron program in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Payson also won a state title in 1969 and then was the runner-up in 1970, then won a second title in 1971. In all three of those championship games Payson played Judge Memorial..

Championship coaching doesn’t require winning a championship: Except for seven teams, the season will end in some form of disappointment. The reality is that for many seniors, they played their last game in organized tackle football this past week. And certainly tears are shed as this reality finally sets in.

This is where great leadership by coaches comes into play as they comfort their athletes and remind them of the big picture after these painful defeats.

As Mountain View huddled in the south end zone at Payson, several members of the coaching staff addressed the team including head coach Abe Poduska, who just completed his third season at the helm of the Bruin program.

In 2020, Mountain View had a winning season but there was turmoil in the program that led to head coach Tyler Anderson resigning and then taking an assistant coaching position at Timpanogos. Anderson is currently the offensive coordinator for Timpview.

At that time, Poduska was the defensive coordinator for Provo High, which was starting to really see some success. Poduska was also a popular English teacher and was once voted as the Teacher of the Year by the graduating seniors. But Poduska wanted to lead his own program and took the daunting task of navigating the Bruin program.

“This team has been unbelievable this year,” Poduska said. “We don’t talk about the numbers. Most of the kids played both ways, and when they grind and do everything we ask, the results (on the season) are not on them. I am so proud of them.”

Mountain View (3-8) did show a lot of growth in 2023. They went from one win last season to three wins this season, made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, and played Payson a bit better in the rematch, even though the game was on Payson’s home turf. They also had to play with a converted wide receiver starting his first game at quarterback.

“We have improved so much,” Poduska said. “Having a playoff game is big for us. This is a special team.”

If any potential parents of Mountain View students are out there reading this, rest assured that your sons will be well coached and supported both on and off the field in this program.

Wasatch head coach Steve Coburn retires: A truly remarkable football coach retired as Steve Coburn decided to step down after 12 years at the helm at Wasatch. Coburn had a 72-60 overall mark at Wasatch and navigated the Wasp program as it went from 3A to 5A football in his tenure there.

Before coming to Wasatch, Coburn also coached at Snow College leading the Badgers to a pair of No. 2 rankings, five top five rankings, and five conference championships at the junior college level.

Lucky No. 17 for Westlake: The UHSAA expanded the playoffs in 2019 and the Thunder have shown that there is merit to this idea.

If the old system was used, the Thunder wouldn’t have made the playoffs in any of those years. But for the fourth time in five years, Westlake advanced to the second round with three of those times coming from the No. 17 seed.

Westlake (2-9) defeated No. 16 Fremont (2-9) Friday 31-14 as quarterback Aiden Bayless tossed three touchdowns while Sale Fano had a scoop-and-score of seven yards.

Fremont scored first and then Westlake countered with 31 unanswered points including 28 points in the second half. Andrew Wright connected on a 41-yard field goal to put the Thunder on the scoreboard.

The win over the Silverwolves snapped a nine-game losing streak and was actually the second victory for Westlake over a team from 6A Region 1. Now the Thunder will travel to play fellow Region 3 rival and top seed American Fork.

Maple Mountain, Orem, and Salem Hills earned first round victories: No. 13 seed Maple Mountain (6-5) scored a nice 35-13 win over No. 20 seed Viewmont (4-7) in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Maple Mountain actually trailed 7-0 at halftime before surging for 35 points after intermission. Nic Hofheins had three touchdown runs for the Golden Eagles. Maple Mountain will now travel to play No. 4 seed Box Elder (8-2) in Brigham City.

In another 5A first round game, No. 17 seed Orem (5-6), for the second time this season, crushed No. 16 seed Wasatch (3-7), 48-24. Lance Reynolds III had two touchdown passes while Asher Young had a 70-yard pick six for Orem. The Tigers will now face top seed Timpview with the site of the game yet to be determined as Timpview’s campus is still under construction.

In a 4A first round game, No. 9 seed Salem Hills (8-3) topped No. 24 seed Uintah (2-9), 44-27. It was the second time the two teams met this season, and in the first game which the Utes hosted in Vernal, Salem Hills won by a much narrower margin, 27-20. Jedi Nelson had three touchdown passes, two of which went to Kort Stewart. Salem Hills’ Christian Miller opened up the game’s scoring with a 35-yard field goal as the Skyhawks scored the first 30 points to ease to victory. Salem Hills will now head to Cache Valley to take on No. 8 seed Green Canyon (7-3).

Season ends for ALA, Cedar Valley and Spanish Fork: No. 11 seed ALA (1-10) lost its first round 2A playoff game to No. 6 seed Providence Hall (7-4), 38-28. Kannon Huntsman played extremely well for the Eagles in a losing cause tossing a 40-yard touchdown pass, rushing for a 30-yard score, receiving on a 40-yard score, and then to top it off, scoring on an 83-yard scoop-and-score.

No. 23 seed Cedar Valley (2-9) was overwhelmed by No. 10 seed Bountiful (7-4) in the 5A first round, losing 51-7. Chevas Gregory’s 7-yard run tied up the game 7-7 in the first quarter then the Redhawks scored 44 straight points.

No. 16 seed Spanish Fork (3-7) lost 47-33 at home to No. 17 Bear River (4-7). The game was tied 10-10 at half but the second half belonged to the Bears. Kaden Vest had two touchdowns for the Dons but it wasn’t enough as Bear River advanced to the second round in the 4A playoffs and now will play their Region 11 rival and 4A top seed Sky View (10-0).

Playoffs Round 2 brings more rematches for valley teams: The second round of the playoffs will feature several interesting rematches. One of them is in 6A as No. 10 seed Lone Peak (4-6) takes on No. 7 seed Mountain Ridge (7-2).

The Sentinels are a relatively new school and have won just one playoff game in school history. Lone Peak has won two state titles and appeared in two other state championship games and has a rich history on the gridiron. Mountain Ridge (7-2) did win an earlier season meeting 31-17, but don’t be shocked to see the Knights pull off the upset.

In 5A, No. 17 seed Orem and No. 1 Timpview (7-2) will square off for a second time. In their first meeting, a home game for Timpview played at Provo High School, the Thunderbirds prevailed 41-21. This game looks to be closer than that now that Orem is fully healthy.

As noted earlier, No. 3 seed Provo (8-2) will host No. 14 seed Payson. In their first meeting Provo needed a late score to beat the Lions 26-23. Payson might have to go with sophomore Trevyn Wall at quarterback as senior Kade Edwards continues to battle injuries. Also, Provo will host this game.

No. 1 seed American Fork (9-1) will host No. 17 seed Westlake. On paper, this game shouldn’t be close as American Fork eased past the Thunder 38-7 earlier in the season.

Extra points: Utah might be the only state where one could see a winless team get their first win in the playoffs. Layton came into the 6A playoffs as the No. 18 seed with an 0-9 record but knocked off No. 15 seed Copper Hills (4-7), 24-20. The Lancers will now face No. 2 seed Corner Canyon (9-1) … It’s hard at this period to say what regions are dominating the 4A, 5A and 6A playoffs but one region in 5A struggled mightily. Even as most of these teams were reclassified from 6A to 5A, it didn’t matter much in regards to their playoff success in 2023. 5A Region 4 just has two teams (out of a possible 16) remaining as No. 12 West Jordan (6-5) was the only team to win in the first round. Granger (7-3) got a first round bye as the No. 7 seed and now will face No. 10 Bountiful … One should expect Region 3 to start dominating the 6A bracket. Four of the five top seeds come from this league. One of its programs will be eliminated as American Fork and Westlake match up. But don’t be surprised if five of the eight teams in the quarterfinals are from Region 3 … The 1A-8 player football playoffs will start this week. Rich (6-4) actually played and won a game against Pinedale, Wyoming in 11-player football on Friday. Rich is 3-0 playing the minimum number of games in 8-player football to qualify for the tournament, but the Rebels actually play in a league constituted of Wyoming schools. Rich did well in this league where they play schools typically larger than them in enrollment going 3-4. It was probably a good idea for Rich to get on the field for that game as the 8-player state tournament has only seven teams and the Rebels received a first-round bye. Without that game, Rich wouldn’t have played a game for three weeks. Timpview faces a similar fate as the Thunderbirds didn’t play in the last week of the regular season and then had a bye in the first round of the 5A tournament. It will be interesting if Timpview will be running on full cylinders being well rested, or if rust comes into play giving a dangerous Orem team a chance … Utah County teams were 3-3 in their playoff games against teams outside the valley and now are 46-27 overall.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald