Prep football preview: Week 4 game previews and predictions for Northern Utah
The 101st Golden Spike game between Bear River and Box Elder headlines this week’s slate of prep football games in Northern Utah. According to prep football historian George Felt, the Bear River-Box Elder rivalry is the longest current uninterrupted rivalry in the state.
Elsewhere, Region 1 play begins for Weber and Davis county schools and, for Roy High, Region 2 games begin. Region 5 games start next week.
Below are previews and predictions for all the games this week.
Last week’s prediction record: 11-5. Season record: 35-11.
BEAR RIVER AT BOX ELDER
Box Elder leads the all-time Golden Spike Game series 71-27-2, though the times both teams have met when they’re both winless are few and far between.
That’s where they’re both at in 2021: 0-3, and both by a wide scoring margin. Familiarity with each other should make for a passionate contest. Prediction: Box Elder
FREMONT AT CLEARFIELD
Fremont’s defense has improved the past two games after taking one on the chin in the opener, and the Silverwolves’ defense has a favorable matchup against Clearfield’s offense. Prediction: Fremont
FARMINGTON AT WEBER
There’s not a chance this game finishes with less than 60 combined points. Both offenses are pretty good and both teams’ defenses have been cut up more than a time or two. Weber looks a bit better so far and Region 1 games are where the Warriors do well. Both teams have excellent running backs in Logan Payne at Weber and Boston Reinhold at Farmington. Prediction: Weber
GRAND AT OGDEN
Ogden (1-2) is pretty beat up injury-wise already, but Grand County hasn’t played a remotely close game all season. Ogden has a good chance to rebound from last week’s drubbing. Prediction: Ogden
ROY AT HUNTER
The Region 2 opener is a tricky one because on paper, Roy (2-1) looks like the better team, though Hunter (0-3) has played a pretty tough schedule to date. Prediction: Roy
BEN LOMOND AT SOUTH SUMMIT
The transitive property reigns here. South Summit beat Layton Christian 14-0, who beat Ben Lomond (0-3) by a lot. Prediction: South Summit
BONNEVILLE AT MOUNTAIN CREST
Its third game against a Cache County school looks a bit more manageable than the other two in that Bonneville (0-3) won’t be facing a bonafide top 10 team. Prediction: Bonneville
LAYTON AT DAVIS
Both teams are 2-1, but Layton has looked better in its first three games. The Lancers have the edge everywhere except the fact they’re on the road, hence why Davis is this week’s upset pick. The only thing that’s easy to tell is it won’t be a 40-7 laugher like last year when Davis led 40-0 at the break. Prediction: Davis
SALEM HILLS AT SYRACUSE
Syracuse’s (3-0) defense should have a field day. The Titans have already forced nine turnovers, made 11 sacks, 12 tackles-for-loss and blocked two kicks this young season. Prediction: Syracuse
COTTONWOOD AT NORTHRIDGE
Northridge (2-1) is averaging about 460 yards of offense per game right now and Cottonwood has had pretty mixed results, albeit against some 3A and 2A bottom-dwellers. Prediction: Northridge
GREEN CANYON AT MORGAN
Morgan is 2-1 and, apart from one game, has played well defensively. At 3-0, Green Canyon looks a touch better and all three of the Wolves’ wins are by four points or less. Prediction: Green Canyon
SKYLINE AT BOUNTIFUL
Bountiful appears to be solid, and is getting ready to face the team that knocked it out of the playoffs in 2020. This isn’t your dad’s Skyline or your grandpa’s Skyline, though. Prediction: Bountiful
RIDGELINE AT WOODS CROSS
If there’s any good thing at all here, it’s that Woods Cross’ (0-3) opponents are a combined 11-1. That should help for playoff seeding in October, but this week the Wildcats’ woes will likely continue. Prediction: Ridgeline
PROVO AT VIEWMONT
The computers like 3-0 Provo by about 20 points, but Viewmont’s also in a pretty good spot right now. This should be a one-possession game. Prediction: Provo
NORTH SEVIER at LAYTON CHRISTIAN
LCA (2-1) filled in its bye week last week with a spot road game at South Summit that the Eagles lost 14-0. It was a good test for LCA which should prepare it for 3-0 North Sevier, which kicks at 4 p.m. Both teams run the ball well, so this game should be over before sunset. Prediction: North Sevier