Fourteen Northern Utah prep football teams are in action this week for the first round of the state playoffs.

Six Weber and Davis County schools have home games: Bonneville, Roy, Layton, Syracuse, Davis and Layton Christian.

Four more schools — Weber, Farmington, Bountiful and Morgan — have first-round byes and will play home games next week.

Below are previews and predictions for this week’s games.

Last week’s prediction record: 11-0. Season prediction record: 102-30.

NORTHRIDGE at BONNEVILLE, 4 p.m.

It’s hard to think the Region 5 rematch won’t be a shootout just like the Lakers’ (5-4) 49-42 win a couple weeks ago.

But if Northridge (7-3) quarterback Maximus Fonoti-Maikui is still hurt, then the Knights will have trouble keeping up.

Either way, expect Bonneville to run the ball a lot since that’s what got it success against Northridge the last time.

Prediction: Bonneville

WESTLAKE at ROY, 4 p.m.

The fact is Roy (7-3) is rolling right now with three straight wins and four wins in the last five games.

Westlake might be 3-7, but the Thunder is in Region 4 and by extension, its losses are against objectively the state’s best teams, so don’t take the team’s awful-looking season statistics at face value.

It’s a reason why Westlake has won playoff games in consecutive years by 20-plus points, which might negate how good Roy is playing right now. It’s a game Westlake should win, which is why Roy could win because the Royals, in case no one’s been paying attention the last 10 years, are very good at winning games they’re not supposed to.

Prediction: Roy

OGDEN at MANTI, 4 p.m.

No. 9 Ogden (3-7) meets No. 8 Manti (3-6) in the 3A playoffs for the first time in school history, according to prep football historian George Felt (Ogden started football in 1898 and Manti started in 1920).

Manti does really well against the run and that’s the Tigers’ strength right now. Ogden could get stuck in the mud if it can’t throw.

Prediction: Manti

BEN LOMOND at NORTH SANPETE, 4 p.m.

North Sanpete (4-6) throws the ball well to five different receivers. This one could get out of hand early if Ben Lomond (1-9) doesn’t have the game of its season here.

Prediction: North Sanpete

FREMONT at KEARNS, 6 p.m.

There probably won’t be a more passionate, intense playoff game this week than Fremont-Kearns.

Both teams had good seasons in 2020. Both teams never got to play a playoff game because they had too many positive COVID-19 cases, leading to abrupt and heartbreaking ends to the season days before said playoff games.

Now they meet each other with the early ending to 2020 as a huge motivator throughout the offseason.

They have a common opponent this year in Roy. Fremont (4-6) beat Roy at home 14-3, Kearns (6-4) lost to Roy 40-35 on the road.

The summer started with a lot of promise for Fremont, which has since slowly evaporated. With one more chance to make a mark on the 2021 season? It’s going to be close, but Fremont has the slight edge.

Prediction: Fremont

PLEASANT GROVE at SYRACUSE, 4 p.m.

They played some common opponents this year: Riverton, Brighton and Westlake. Syracuse (6-4) beat all three, PG (1-9) lost to all three.

It’s not an easy game, let alone an easy win, for Syracuse because the Vikings have now gone through the Region 4 gauntlet and are probably a much better team now than in August.

The Titans will need something good to happen offensively to have a chance, but their defense is good enough where they can win a game in the teens.

Prediction: Syracuse

HUNTER at LAYTON, 4:30 p.m.

Layton (5-4) started the year 4-1 and has since lost three of the last four games, though all four of the losses have been by single digits.

They face a Hunter (3-6) team that’s big enough to make running the ball difficult, but Layton still has a good defense and a good vertical pass game that should put Layton into the second round.

Prediction: Layton

HERRIMAN at DAVIS, 5 p.m.

If it’s a close game, as one would expect between a No. 15 and No. 18 seed, then go with Davis (5-5) even if the team has dealt with some injuries and struggles lately.

Playoff games are inherently close and the Darts are 5-1 in games decided by single digits this year.

Prediction: Davis

MONTICELLO at LAYTON CHRISTIAN, 3 p.m.

The teams were supposed to play a couple weeks ago, but No. 11 Monticello had to forfeit. No. 6 LCA (6-4) should have this one wrapped up by halftime.

Prediction: Layton Christian

CLEARFIELD at WEST JORDAN, 6 p.m.

Injuries have piled up for Clearfield (1-9) this year, particularly with the Falcons’ best players.

CHS has done alright against common opponents that it and West Jordan (7-2) have played, so there’s reason to expect a decently close game.

Prediction: West Jordan

BOX ELDER at TOOELE, 6 p.m.

There was a lot of uncertainty after Box Elder (3-7) lost to Ridgeline last week whether the Bees would make the playoffs.

Well, they got the final 5A playoff spot at No. 24 and visit No. 9 Tooele (7-3) in what’s actually a more winnable game than the seeding disparity suggests.

That’s for a couple reasons: the first being that Box Elder was incredibly excited to get another playoff game, and the second being that Tooele played in a region with a bunch of teams that padded their records with wins against smaller teams, worse teams and the like.

Region 5 wasn’t a gauntlet by any means, as two of the six teams missed the playoffs, but it’s better than Region 7.

Prediction: Box Elder

BEAR RIVER at DIXIE, 6 p.m.

Bear River (0-9) has its hands full against a team that does well in just about everything. The Bears are going to need something almost unheard of to get a win down south.

Prediction: Dixie

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