Game preview capsule: Skyline at Hurricane

Written by Andy Griffin on August 17, 2012 in Hurricane, News, Sports - No comments

GAME PREVIEW CAPSULE

Skyline (0-0) at Hurricane (0-0)

EAGLES
Classification: 4A, Region 7
Last year: 7-4
Coach: Steve Marlowe (first year)
Offense: Wishbone, inverted wishbone
Players to watch: QB Tyler Snyder is a decent passer, which adds a new dimension to a run-heavy attack. California transfer FB Brandon Lier should see plenty of carries. Skyline also has a 6-4 WR named Garrett England who could pose a threat.
PPG (last year): 27.8
PAPG (last year): 18.5
Trend: How do you replace a legend? Skyline coach Roger Dupaix retired after three decades and 300 wins and Marlowe has to answer that question. However, Marlowe was a longtime assistant and probably won’t change much.

TIGERS
Classification: 3A, Region 9
Last year: 13-0
Coach: Chris Homer (76-42)
Offense: Wing-T
Players to watch: FB Jared Edwards has big shoes to fill with the graduation of Brian Scott. He seems capable as he was an all-stater on defense from last year. Also, Adam Thompson averaged nearly 10 yards a carry last year and has speed to burn.
PPG (last year): 42.2
PAPG (last year): 14.1
Trend: Who wants to challenge a program that has been to the championship game four straight years? Skyline will be the first to try, but Hurricane has become a program and not just a team. And sometimes only an act of Mother Nature can stop that.

GAME OUTLOOK

The Tigers shocked Skyline a year ago in a game that started the year of perfection for the champion Tigers, winning 33-14 in a game that wasn’t even that close. The Eagles will play tough, but any Skyline mystique is long gone. In fact, watch out for the Hurricane mystique. If not for a few late-game miracles, Hurricane could be 4-time defending state champions.

STGnews PREDICTION

Andy Griffin — Hurricane

Jeff Ames — Hurricane

Email: sports@stgnews.com

Twitter: @STGnews

About the Author

Andy has been in sports media since 1989, when he graduated from American Technical College and accepted a job as the night disc jockey at Z104 in Logan. While there, he worked at the classic rock station and also served as the beat writer covering the Utah State Aggies and the Utah Jazz. Since earning a journalism degree at USU in 1992, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 23 years and has five children ages 8 to 21.