It will be West Valley v Kau Toa in the final of the Utah HS club championship on Saturday after both won semifinals last week.

Both teams had to work hard for their victories. Kau Toa took down Wasatch Murray 34-28, while West Valley beat Genesis 28-19. West Valley, which beat Wasatch Murray 44-3 in the regular season and beat Kau Toa 34-21 in a non-conference game, might well be favored, but CoachEpoki Mahina said his team needs to play a lot better than they did against Kau Toa to win.

“Our flow was off,” said Mahina. “We started slow and we didn’t really get our game plan clicking until late. And we can’t afford to do that against Kau Toa.”

Still, West Valley got a nice piece of matin from Colton Swapp at fullback, who took a close game and sealed with a late try, and some superb work from the midfield of Logan utui and Siona Tauatina. Those two challenged the Genesis defensive line on a regular basis, while flyhalf Piliote Tupou distributed nicely.

In the forwards, No. 8 Esekia Tauvau and flanker Tielu Tiatia roamed the field causing havoc, and lock Jay Tufele had possibly his best game for the Warriors.

They will go in to Saturday’s game favored, but Kau Toa, despite having lost to West Valley and Genesis earlier in the season, is improving and with Amanaki Lavaka the playmaker in the backs, they can always create something.