Prep Rewind: Blowouts are an unfortunate reality in high school football
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- Provo’s Cruz Barker (0) and Julius Pan tackle Dillan Morgan of Timpanogos in a Region 8 football game on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
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- Springville’s Damian “Baby” Tupou looks for running room against Spanish Fork in a Region 7 football game on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
Does sportsmanship really matter?
The head coach at Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Ore., was fired last week after his team pounded Cottage Grove 63-0.
Ahead 57-0, Zach Loboy called for an onside kick which was recovered and turned into one final touchdown before halftime and the opposing team refused to play the second half. School officials dismissed Loboy saying “his actions didn’t reflect the mission and values of the school.”
Of course, social media has lit up in both support of the coach or the school administration who dismissed him.
There have been worse blowouts in Utah this season. In fact, last Wednesday night West beat Cyprus 75-0 though the halftime score was “only” 55-0. West also beat Taylorsville 71-7 (and that was also the halftime score). West has ridden roughshod over its weak 5A Region 4 competition with other blowout victories including a 63-0 win over West Jordan, 52-0 over Granger, 55-6 over Hillcrest and 54-6 over Hunter. In a non-league contest, West took rival East to the woodshed for a 60-0 beatdown. For some reason, the Panthers didn’t play winless Kearns in league play, and it’s hard to imagine that going well for the hapless Cougars. When Kearns balked at playing the Panthers, West scheduled a non-league game against Brighton and topped the Bengals 56-13.
Blowouts in Utah prep football are quite common as there seems to be a large wealth gap between programs. Football historian George Felt reported that 17.5 percent of football games going into Week 10 were ended early because of the new 44-point rule that ends the contest after three quarters if one team is ahead by that margin or greater. Cottonwood, which got outscored 539-9 this season, only saw the final stanza one time. The Colts were so awful this season they got beat by 1A Duchesne 69-0.
And sometimes rivalries can get a bit heated. In 2007, Timpview beat Provo 63-0 and attempted an onside kick ahead 42-0 in the second quarter. Teams didn’t shake hands after the game and coaches from both schools nearly came to blows. The Provo-Timpview rivalry has had a lot of toxic moments in a lot of different sports but after social media threats were made to sexually assault the daughter of then Provo football head coach Kirk Chambers, the 2024 game was canceled and the schools haven’t played each other since.
Playoff time
After a long, grueling season, a week’s rest might do Utah’s high school football teams some good.
The UHSAA announced the playoff seeds on Saturday but only one team in the valley actually has a game this week. Utah Military Academy-Camp Williams (4-6) hosts Monument Valley (1-7) in an 8-man gridiron showdown on Friday. Since UMACW doesn’t have a football field on campus, the contest will be played at Cedar Valley on Friday at 6 p.m. The two teams played earlier in the season with UMACW shutting out the Cougars 47-0.
All other playoff games involving Utah County programs are on Friday, October 30.
Class 6A
Skyridge (8-1), though it lost to Mountain Ridge (10-0), garnered the top seed and hosts Riverton (2-8). Mountain Ridge at No. 2 hosts No. 15 Cedar Valley (1-9) which actually moved up a spot from the week previous despite losing their eighth straight game. American Fork (6-4) at No. 8 entertains No. 9 Copper Hills (7-3). Westlake (7-3) fell to Mountain Ridge in the final week but only slipped a spot and as the No. 6 seed hosts No. 11 Syracuse (5-4). Finally get ready everyone for a titanic north Utah Valley clash of perennial large-school powerhouses when No. 7 Lone Peak (5-5) takes on No. 10 Lehi (5-5). The two played in Week 9 with Lone Peak winning 14-7.
Class 5A
There are two epic intra-valley clashes lined up when No. 2 seed Orem (8-2), the defending 5A champs, take on No. 15 Timpview (4-6) who moved up three spots after beating Spanish Fork (6-4). Speaking of the Dons, they are seeded at No. 7 and will face No. 10 Pleasant Grove (6-4). Both meetings are rematches of games that were dandies as Orem kicked a late field goal to top Timpview 17-14 and Spanish Fork slipped past the Vikings 28-24 in a game that took two days to complete because of lightning delays.
Springville (7-2) had a bye last week and fell from No. 4 to No. 5. The Red Devils, last year’s 5A runner-up, will host No. 12 Olympus (5-5). No. 18 Payson (3-7) and No. 21 Maple Mountain (2-8) will both miss the playoffs. Payson held the last spot but its loss to Pleasant Grove in the final week took them out of the 16-team playoff field. In an interesting note, Pleasant Grove is listed at 5-4 in the RPI standing because for some reason their win over Layton Christian wasn’t figured into the RPI ratings, likely hurting the Vikings eventual seeding.
Class 4A
Salem Hills (8-2) earned the highest seed of any 4A county teams as the No. 7 seed and hosts No. 10 Mountain Crest (7-3). With its victory over Timpanogos, Provo (6-4) moved up to the No. 14 seed and hits the road to take on No. 3 seed Stansbury (8-2). Mountain View (6-4) held on to the No. 16 seed and hopes to pull off the huge upset and end top seed Ridgeline’s (10-0) 24-game winning streak as the Bruins head north to Cache Valley. Timpanogos (5-5) stayed at No. 20 with its loss to Provo and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. Wasatch (1-9) and Deer Creek (0-10) ended up at No. 26 and No. 29 respectively and will also miss the post-season.
Class 2A
American Leadership Academy (6-4) maintained its No. 5 seed and play at No. 4 seed South Summit (6-4) who dominated the regular season meeting, winning 49-7.
History making win for ALA
The Eagles beat Judge Memorial 21-14 last week to ensure the first winning season in school history. ALA finished the regular season at 6-4. Mason Ober had two touchdown runs to highlight the Eagle victory. It took 22 seasons for the ALA program to accomplish this feat so much credit has to be given to first-year head coach Joe DuPaix, his staff, and this year’s roster of players for reaching this milestone.
Extra Points: Ridgeline will carry a 24-game winning streak into the playoffs as the Riverhawks look to repeat in 4A. In Ridgeline’s 56-30 win over Bear River, running back Noah Fiefia had seven touchdowns including a 95-yard scamper. … Cottonwood lost its 28th straight game. … Deseret Peak, losers of 20 straight, and Deer Creek, losers of 10 in a row, will have to wait at least one more season to get their first win in school history. … Three teams finished undefeated in the regular season as Mountain Ridge and West join Ridgeline as 10-0 teams going into the playoffs. … Playing 8-man football as an independent team that can’t qualify for the state playoffs definitely was still a good thing for Grand as it went 6-3 on the season. In its three previous seasons playing 2A, Grand was 3-27 and actually chose to bow out of the playoffs on two occasions. … Layton Christian also played an independent schedule. The Eagles are 8-1 and instead of participating in the UHSAA playoffs will play two other out-of-state teams including a visit to Sutter, Calif. By the way, Pleasant Grove gave the Eagles their only loss but the Eagles did beat Utah County teams Payson and Maple Mountain. … Utah County teams were 3-4 against teams outside the valley this past week and finished the regular season with a very solid 48-34 mark.
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday Night Heroes
Provo QB’s Drevin Christensen and Frederic Beasley
The duo tossed five touchdown passes — two from Christensen in the first half and three for Beesley in the second half — as Provo topped Timpanogos 47-15.
Provo WR/DB Brexton Hunter
Hunter had two touchdown catches and secured an interception which tied a school record with 10 as Provo pounded Timpanogos.
Westlake RB Ashton Taylor
Taylor ran for one score and tossed a touchdown pass though the Thunder fell to undefeated Mountain Ridge 21-13.
Timpview WR Dennis Tua’one
Tua’one had a monster game with 232 all-purpose yards. The Thunderbird receiver caught seven balls for 127 yards, carried the ball five times for 92 yards and added a punt return of 13 yards as Timpview topped Spanish Fork 27-20.
Spanish Fork QB Nixon Warren
Warren had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown along with 86 yards rushing on 10 carries and 83 yards passing. All total, Warren had 206 all-purpose yards though the Dons fell short against Timpview.
Orem DE Major Stokes
Stokes had six total tackles, including five for loss, as the Tigers shut out Maple Mountain 47-0.
Orem QB Tanner Lewis
Lewis was 15 of 20 for 284 yards and four touchdowns leading Orem to the rout of Maple Mountain.
Salem Hills QB Cash Hollingshead
Hollingshead was 14 of 20 for 297 yards and five touchdowns while rushing the ball two times for 57 yards as the Skyhawks crushed Uintah 49-14.
Salem Hills RB Reggie Smith
Smith ran the ball 16 times for 178 yards and two scores while also catching five balls for 69 yards with a third TD as the Skyhawks slammed Uintah.
Skyridge LB Rex Caswell
Caswell registered nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss, as the Falcons beat American Fork 21-15.
Pleasant Grove RB Corbin Robbins
Robbins crossed the goal line three times with TD runs of 12, nine and three yards in the Vikings 45-0 victory over Payson.
Mountain View RB Carter Vance
Vance had 181 yards on 22 carries with a score as Mountain View whipped Wasatch 50-26.
Mountain View DB Carter Peterson
Petesrson dominated on defense with two interceptions, including a 45-yard pick six, to go along with nine tackles as Mountain View mauled Wasatch.
ALA RB Mason Ober
Ober went over the goal line twice as the Eagles secured their first winning season in school history with a 21-14 win over Judge Memorial.
