Felt’s Facts – 2015 Week 5

The Unbeaten and the Winless

The number of undefeated teams dropped from 19 to 12 last week, while six squads picked up their first victory, leaving 13 still working for that first win.

Just two contests match winless squads. Layton Christian invades newcomer Wayne in 1A North and Mountain View visits Timpanogos in Region 7. Mountain View grabbed a 20-14 overtime victory over the Timberwolves last year. It marked the Bruins’ only on-field win as their other victory came when Orem forfeited.

No games pit unblemished Utah teams against each other, but 4-0 Jordan entertains unbeaten Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.) Saturday at 1 p.m.

Utah vs. The Nation

In addition to the Jordan-Cherry Creek contest, East hosts Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) on Friday at 7 p.m. Those games, against a pair of Colorado’s top teams, mark this season’s last marquee games against out-of-state opponents.

Cherry Creek (3-0) comes in as the No. 1 team in Colorado while Valor Christian (1-2) is ranked third by MaxPreps. Valor Christian’s losses were to Colorado’s second-ranked team, Pomona, and Arkansas’ No. 2 team, Bentonville.

Last year, Cherry Creek defeated Valor Christian, 25-24, in the Colorado Class 5A championship, halting Valor Christian’s attempt to win its sixth consecutive state crown.

Also last year, East fell at Valor Christian 31-14 and Jordan beat Cherry Creek 38-14.

So far this season, Utah teams are 11-11 against out-of-state competition.

Week 5’s Most-played Rivalries (min. 50 games)

Springville and Spanish Fork meet for the 89th time since 1920. Springville leads the series 44-41-3 and has captured the last two, although they’ve split the last 14. It’s the eighth most-played rivalry in the state. Since 1928, they only failed to meet in 1938 and 2008.

Dixie and Cedar revive their rivalry for the 86th time since 1949. It’s the second longest uninterrupted active series. Dixie rules the series 52-33 and has taken the last five.

Milford battles Parowan for the 83rd time. Parowan has won the last four in the series to narrow the Tigers’ lead to 42-37-3.

Heading into their 70th meeting, Delta dominates its series with North Sanpete 55-12-2, but NS enjoys a three-game winning streak against the Rabbits.

Lehi faces Pleasant Grove for the 58th time with Lehi up 29-26-2. The Vikings have won 14 in a row from Lehi going back to 1973. However, since 1984, they’ve only knocked heads six times, including the past four years. Lehi hasn’t defeated the Vikings since a 3-0 shutout in 1972.

Richfield and Juab tangle for the 51st time. Richfield leads the series 29-20-1, but the Wasps have won the last eight meetings.

First-time Matchups

Four games pit teams for the first time: Layton Christian at Wayne, Judge Memorial at Stansbury, Maple Mountain at Tooele and Whitehorse at Greyhills Academy (Tuba City, Ariz.)

Coal Bucket Showdown

Emery and Carbon battle for the Coal Bucket for the 25th time. Emery has reserved a seat on the bus for the traveling trophy 22 times, including the last 12 in a row. Carbon’s wins in the series came in 1994 and 2000.

The Top-Five…

Scoring teams: Canyon View 45.3 ppg, Jordan 44.5, Dixie 44.3, Mountain Crest 42.5, Diamond Ranch 42.0.

Defensive teams: Lone Peak 8.8, South Summit 9.5, Kanab 10.0, American Leadership and Provo 10.5.

By winning margin: Lone Peak 29.5, Provo 26.0, Davis 25.8, Kearns 25.0, Sky View 24.8.

Overtime Battle

Highland and Bountiful have played each other 45 times. Last week marked the seventh time the outcome has been decided in overtime. Only one other pair of teams, Ogden and Ben Lomond, has faced each other in that many OT games. Those two have clashed 66 times.

It was also Highland’s 23rd overtime contest, tying Clearfield for the most overtime games played in the state. Bountiful isn’t far behind. With 21, the Braves are tied with West for third place.

Career Reception Records

Four receivers are making their marks as some of Utah’s all-time top prep receivers.

Brighton’s Simi Fehoko needs just 88 yards to move into fifth place in Receiving Yards. He has 2,597 in his three-year career. Fehoko is tied for ninth in TD Receptions with 29; that’s 12 short of the state record.

Sky View’s Bryce Mortenson has climbed into a tie for 15th place in Touchdown Receptions with 26.

Jordan’s Spencer Curtis has over 2,000 reception yards during his three-year career. With 2,095, he’s in 17th place all-time. He places 18th in Career Receptions with 124.

Fremont’s Haze Hadley now has even 100 receptions making him the 48th player in Utah prep history to reach that mark. He’s the second Silver Wolf to achieve that; state-leader Austin Raught (2003-05) caught 231 during his career.

What’s Your Number?

A question sent to Felt’s Facts wonders if high school players are required to wear certain numbers according to their position.

The NFL requires that each position wear a number from an assigned range. For example, quarterbacks and kickers must select a number between 1-19. Wide receivers and tight ends must wear a number between 10-19 or 90-99. Linebackers have to wear a number between 50-59 or 90-99. And so on.

However, in college and high school, no such restrictions apply except to players who could be penalized as being ineligible receivers. They must use a number within a specified range, 50-79. Other than that, any player can wear any number that would allow him to be an eligible receiver, although typically you won’t see a quarterback wearing 99 or some number usually associated with a lineman.  But he could.

See you on the sidelines!

Felt’s Facts is a prep football column written weekly by George Felt. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of St. George News.