Competition is coming to a head in Utah as some top-ranked teams meet up this weekend.

Olympus, ranked #12 among single-schools, takes on Highland, ranked #39. Both are undefeated int the Wasatch Conference. With Herriman HS (SS #6) and Snow Canyon HS (SS #10) already having secured top spots in their conferences, neither Olympus nor Highland will want to take the lower seed and risk facing those other two in the state quarter finals.

The West Valley Warriors (MS #9) face Alta after losing to Lowland on Thursday.

Lowland went into the game 2-2 and West Valley were undefeated. But Lowland did well to weather the power running of players like 275-lb Tevita Tauelangi, 225-lb Jordan Lutui, and 215-lb flyhalf Himinai Tausinga, and spread the ball wide to make West Valley run.

Lowland scored of the initial kick by winning back their ball with excellent aerial play by Jake Kartchner, a 6-4 lock, was able to win back four Lions restarts, intercept two passes, and lumber in for two tries.

One of those restart grabs by Kartchner led directly to a try as he took the ball and just kept on going under the posts. A nice loop and switch between Keagan Barnes, Colton Swapp, and Matt Larson put Swapp under the posts for another. That made it 24-10, and Swapp added a drop goal later in the game to keep his team two scored ahead. Swapp ended up with 26 points in the game. 

Lowland continues to be a dark horse in the state championship race. While ending the season 5-3 ( 3-2 in conference play) their losses have all been close. They lost to United by six points after keeping United out of the try zone the entire second half, and lost to Orem by ten.

Now West Valley needs a win or tie to bypass Lowland again. And United (MS#10) sits at 4-1 and hopes West Valley doesn’t get a bonus-point win. They take on single-school #10 Snow Canyon in the travel trophy match between the two teams.