Two teams play in state semifinals: Morgan in 3A and Layton Christian in 1A. Morgan is making its seventh straight semifinal appearance and LCA is making its second in school history (2011).

In 6A, Weber hosts Syracuse for a Region 1 rematch in the quarterfinals. Farmington visits Skyridge, aiming for its first semifinal appearance in school history.

In 5A, Bountiful seeks its first semifinal appearance since 2011 when it hosts red-hot Orem, which has won four straight state championships and 19 straight playoff games.

Last week’s prediction record: 7-2. Season prediction record: 119-36.

MORGAN vs. JUAB

3A semifinals: Saturday, 4 p.m., at Southern Utah University

For the fifth straight year, Morgan and Juab meet in the postseason, with MHS winning three of the previous four.

The teams met in the last two state title games; Morgan won 8-0 in 2019 and Juab won 17-14 in 2020.

No. 4 Morgan (8-3) made three interceptions, and Gunnar Lish ran one back for a score, last week against pass-happy North Sanpete and the Trojans have been good against teams that pass well (and very good against pretty much everyone this year, for that matter). That should help against Juab.

On offense, Morgan has a handful of players who can run, including quarterback Nick Despain and backs Will Korth, Will Lance and Alex Fisher. Teams have been able to run well against Juab this season.

No. 1 Juab (10-1) is as close to a 50-50 run and pass team as one will find, but the Wasps have a good quarterback and four receivers with 22 or more catches. The run game is hot and cold: Ogden held the Wasps to 96 yards on 22 carries last week, Juab’s struggled on the ground in some of its blowout wins and has also had its fair share of big running games.

Defensively, Morgan is better statistically, allowing 11.5 points per game compared to Juab’s 21.6 per game. Juab forces lots of turnovers and can easily take control if the Trojans aren’t careful.

If one looks at common opponents this season, here’s how that breaks down:

Morgan beat Manti 42-0, North Sanpete 56-18 and Ogden 33-7. Juab beat Manti 35-25, North Sanpete 41-12 and Ogden 31-24.

The computers like Morgan by double digits in this game, but any sort of outcome that isn’t a single-possession game seems unlikely. It still looks like Morgan’s better-suited to win this one.

Prediction: Morgan

SYRACUSE at WEBER, 6 p.m.

The winner of this 6A quarterfinal Friday gets to play next week at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the state semifinals, a dream accomplishment for pretty much every team in the state that has that opportunity. It would be the first state semifinal appearance for No. 12 Syracuse since 2012 and the first for No. 4 Weber since 1999.

Whoever wins will be the first Region 1 team in the semifinals since Fremont in 2016.

When Weber and Syracuse met this September, the Titans looked for all the world like they’d won with a Philly Special two-point conversion to take a 32-31 lead with under a minute left.

Then, the Warriors marched down the field with a last-minute drive that set them up for a 50-yard field goal by Syracuse transfer Jayce Jones, whose buzzer-beater make so easily cleared the uprights that it didn’t need the tailwind he had behind him.

The Titans, who were 4-0 in non-region play, lost the next week at Davis on a Hail Mary and, by Oct. 1, were out of the Region 1 title race.

They’d done enough in August to help get them a 6-4 regular-season record and the No. 12 seed in the playoffs.

What followed was two double-digit playoff wins over No. 21 Pleasant Grove (33-7) and No. 5 Mountain Ridge (35-23), consisting of the best two-game scoring stretch this year for the Titans.

The wins moved Syracuse’s all-time playoff record, in 13 appearances, to 14-12.

Weber has won nine straight, including a fourth Region 1 title in five years, since getting thrashed at American Fork on Aug. 20.

The Warriors lost quarterback Jake Lindsay for the season due to injury against Olympus on Oct. 1. Since then, the team’s rallied and, oddly, scored exactly 35 points in each of the three games since.

Friday’s a toss-up, but it’s hard to go against the team at home with a nine-game win streak.

Prediction: Weber

OREM at BOUNTIFUL, 6 p.m.

Bountiful is 5-2 all-time against Orem, with all seven previous meetings happening in the playoffs.

As much as the No. 4 Redhawks’ (8-2) running game has left teams in the dust, the defense has allowed 15.6 points per game this season and only two teams — Park City and Skyline — have even eclipsed the 20-point mark against BHS.

Bountiful has good defensive numbers with 65 tackles-for-loss, 25.5 sacks and 22 turnovers forced. They’ll need that defense to generate short fields and such to have a chance against a No. 21 Orem team that’s better than a 6-5 record indicates.

The Tigers have defeated Brighton by 20 and Provo by 14 in the playoffs already, teams that have better passing offenses than Bountiful’s.

Orem’s defense has 30 sacks and the offense relies on a handful of playmakers.

Prediction: Orem

FARMINGTON at SKYRIDGE, 6 p.m.

No. 3 Skyridge (10-1) has big names on offense, but it’s the defense that No. 6 Farmington has to worry about.

Skyridge has allowed 99 points in 11 games with five shutouts, totaling 96.5 tackles-for-loss with 30 sacks and 22 turnovers.

Consequently, Farmington’s (8-3) defense has been key in its seven-game win streak.

The Phoenix allowed 38 points in four games (9.5 points per game) in October and, in the seven-game streak, Farmington has allowed 81, or 11.6 per game.

Skyridge is a better team all-around than the West team Farmington beat 10-7 last week, though the Phoenix is plenty good enough to make things close.

Prediction: Skyridge

LAYTON CHRISTIAN vs. KANAB

5 p.m. at Southern Utah University

No. 6 Layton Christian (8-4) already clinched its record for most wins in a season in school history, and will play in Friday’s state semifinal exactly 10 years to the day since its last semifinal appearance (Nov. 5, 2011, against Monticello).

Awaiting LCA is No. 2 Kanab (9-2), a run-heavy team that has mostly done better against common opponents this year.

Two examples are the Cowboys beating Duchesne 27-6 and North Summit 23-6, compared to Duchesne beating LCA 39-15 and LCA topping North Summit 19-14.

Both teams beat Enterprise by one possession, both teams smoked Gunnison Valley and both teams played North Sevier to a one-point game.

Either way, Friday’s semifinal should be a quick game because both teams run the ball a lot. The game also features 1,000-yard backs in LCA’s Jessaia Giatras-Moala and Kanab’s Parker Franklin.

Prediction: Kanab