This week’s game previews and predictions are below.

Last week’s prediction record: 12-2. Season record: 24-6

BONNEVILLE AT WEBER

Game of the Week

Defending champions from Region 1 and Region 5 collide with the winner getting off the mark in the win column and the loser staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start.

Talent-wise, there’s going to be a lot on the field with at least three Division-I commits: Aisea Moa (Utah) and Cannon DeVries (BYU) from Weber, and Kord Shaw (Oregon State) from Bonneville.

It’s hard to say who looks better at the moment. Both Weber and Bonneville are 0-2 and all the losses are against teams that are 2-0 (Bingham, American Fork, Sky View and Ridgeline) and arguably among the top 10 best teams in the whole state.

By season’s end, their first two games should go a long way towards getting Bonneville and Weber where they want to be. That strength of schedule will help for playoff seeding.

It’s the 58th all-time meeting between the two, both schools’ most-played series. The teams last played in 2016. The Lakers have a 39-18 advantage in the series, but Weber has won three of the last four.

As for who wins? That’s a tough call. Both teams have playmakers on all three sides of the ball, so they can score anywhere, anytime. Prediction: Weber

CLEARFIELD VS. ROY

This game is up the road at Utah State’s Maverik Stadium, and is scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. If Roy plays with the same intensity and as well as it did on defense against Fremont, the Royals will be in great shape. Roy leads the all-time series 19-11 and has won nine straight against the Falcons. The computers like Roy by a lot of points, but this looks like a one-possession game. Prediction: Roy

HIGHLAND AT FREMONT

Highland is sort of a question mark since it didn’t play its opening game due to COVID-19, then lost 35-0 against 4A Pine View last week, allowing 266 yards passing and just 44 rushing. For a Fremont team that, so far, has had more success in the pass game (it’s a lot of short passing), this could be fruitful for the offense as well as the defense. Prediction: Fremont

EVANSTON (WY) AT BEN LOMOND

The Scots are off to an 0-2 start after being outscored 91-9 and face a school from Wyoming playing its season-opener (by the way, Evanston has two games of film on BL while the Scots don’t have anything current of their foe). Ben Lomond’s early struggles are a little confounding, but the Scots are also still breaking in a new quarterback, Austin Herbert, and a new defensive coordinator. Prediction: Evanston

POCATELLO (ID) VS. OGDEN

The Tigers (1-1) are once again a bit of a patchwork with injuries all over the place, but they had a lot of sophomores step in last week and play well in a 31-21 win over Providence Hall. The offense looks pretty good in spite of all that and could take advantage of first-game miscues by the Idaho school. This game is a 2 p.m. Saturday kick at Madison High in Rexburg, Idaho. Prediction: Ogden

JORDAN AT LAYTON

Early in the season, it’s hard to compare teams by the results they’ve achieved against each other. But Layton beat Northridge by 22, Northridge beat Taylorsville by 64 and Jordan beat Taylorsville by 49. The transitive property isn’t concrete, but Layton looks good. Also, the Lancers’ (1-1) defense has totaled 10 sacks and five forced turnovers. Prediction: Layton

MAPLE MOUNTAIN AT FARMINGTON

This is Thursday’s 7 p.m. TV spotlight game on KJZZ. Whatever happens, Farmington (0-2) has to stop the run. Maple Mountain is averaging 11 yards per carry and 241 rushing yards per game. The Phoenix had a good game defensively against the run last week, but MMHS is a senior-heavy team coming off a good season last year and looking every bit as good. Prediction: Maple Mountain

SYRACUSE AT WESTLAKE

Based on the first two games, this one should be close and low-scoring. Syracuse’s (2-0) defense looks like it means business and Westlake’s offense, though it’s a Region 4 team, looks like it’s slow getting out of the gate right now. Prediction: Syracuse

BOX ELDER AT MOUNTAIN CREST

It’s a meeting of two 0-2 teams, but Box Elder looks like it’s made some strides week-to-week where MC has been outscored 100-10. BE trails the all-time series 11-20. Prediction: Box Elder

NORTHRIDGE AT MURRAY

Both teams have shown they can score lots of points, but Murray hasn’t faced an offense like Northridge’s yet. Add to that the Knights’ defense got cut up last week and probably had plenty to improve from after the Layton game. Prediction: Northridge

DAVIS AT GRANGER

Through two games, Davis’ defense has shown it can back teams up or slow them down with 16 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks. The Darts (1-1) also meet a Granger offense that’s scored 12 points in two games. DHS is 7-0 all-time against Granger. Prediction: Davis

BEAR RIVER AT MADISON (ID)

Like the other Utah teams facing out-of-state schools that are playing their season-opener, teams that have two games under their belt are ahead of teams that don’t. This is a golden chance for Bear River to get a win in an otherwise challenging season. This game is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday. Prediction: Bear River

MORGAN AT SUGAR-SALEM (ID)

Sugar-Salem is the defending Idaho 3A state champion, graduated some of the team’s best players from that team, returns a few, but still will have some first-game issues to figure out for a 4 p.m. Friday kick against a Morgan team that’s looking solid as always. Prediction: Morgan

BOUNTIFUL AT SPRINGVILLE

Bountiful is off and running with the season and threw the ball well against Farmington last week. Springville is 2-0 with a 77-18 scoring margin and a very good pass defense. This should be a good game, a tough one for the Redhawks, but that’s why they’re this week’s upset pick. Prediction: Bountiful

VIEWMONT AT COPPER HILLS

Viewmont’s (1-1) defense looks solid the first two games and the Vikes get a team that’s scored 14 points so far and is comparable to the Hillcrest team VHS beat 38-0 last week. Prediction: Viewmont

WOODS CROSS AT BRIGHTON

It could be another rough outing for the Wildcats. The good news for them is the tough non-region schedule should help in Region 5. Prediction: Brighton