Final football picks

It’s the final edition of the picks today. Wrapping up football season used to be a downer for me, but I’ve been OK with it the last couple of years. The season is a grind for everyone, and it’s always nice to end it and move on. We’ll all be excited for it again next summer.

Some sad news to report before we get to the picks though. Steve Pimper, who defeated me in these picks twice this season, sadly passed away earlier this week. Steve did such a fine job taking care of the state’s stats and info on maxpreps.com. He passed away peacefully. The family believes it was from a heart attack.

Anyone who knows Steve knows he was just a nice, genuine guy. He truly cared about high school sports and the young athletes in the state. He will be missed.

Seems weird to move on to the picks after talking about Steve’s death, but let’s do it. I asked two competitors to take me on this week, and they both took the same teams. We’ll be picking all four games at Rice-Eccles on Friday and Saturday. My competitors are Dan “The Man” Rasmussen and John “Kamas” Coon.

JC: I’m obviously thrilled with the opportunity to avenge last week’s tie by taking down Andrew and Dan at the same time. I could explain away last week by claiming I didn’t know we were supposed to have ties, like Donovan McNabb, and that I was set to move down the field in overtime. But that would be silly. Instead, I’ll just acknowledge Andrew rising up to snatch away a third consecutive victory and I plan on producing better results this week.
DR: As a soccer affectionado, I frequently find myself defending a tie and its role in the sport that everyone else across the globe refers to as ‘football.’ Accordingly, I’ll take the draw I had with Andrew a few weeks ago and hope to build on it this weekend.
AA: Since these guys like ties so much, they’ll happy to be know that they’ll tie this week. They picked the same winners in all four games. Now I have to find a game or two to differ on.

JC: One last thing, folks. Remember to start placing your orders now for the championship t-shirts and caps after I notch another win this week. Be the first to say you were there when I beat both Andrew and Dan.
DR: If nothing else, we’ve got three fantastic matchups to cap the 2008 prep football season. Bingham and Alta were clearly the class of Class 5A over the second half of the season, two-time defending champ Timpview and Cottonwood present us a matchup of unbeatens in Class 4A, and while there was a deep field of strong teams in 3A, we’ll have No. 1 vs. No. 2 when Juan Diego meets Hurricane to open proceedings on Friday.
AA: Look at it like this. There are eight teams playing at Rice-Eccles on Friday and Saturday, and they have a combined five losses between them. It should be a great couple of days of football.

3A Championship: Hurricane vs Juan Diego
JC: I took a lot of heat for going out on a limb and predicting Morgan to win last week. My Bad. I didn’t know the Trojan offense would forget to show up to Rice-Eccles Stadium. This week’s game between Juan Diego and Hurricane will be a good one. The Soaring Eagle have 3A’s best scoring defense. The Tigers boast the best runner statewide in Gordie Dotson. I honestly see Hurricane offering a stiff challenge. But conventional wisdom says defense wins championships. Time to go with the better defense here, if only by the slimmest of margins. Juan Diego 21, Hurricane 20
DR: Of the three championship games, this one’s by far the toughest for me to pick. Every time I tell myself I wanna go with Hurricane, I start thinking about Juan Diego’s defense. The Soaring Eagle has turned the time-worn phrase of ‘Defense wins championships’ into an art-form this season, and I think those three words will ring true for Juan Diego Friday morning. This game could go either way, in my opinion, but I’ll take the Soaring Eagle in a nail-biter. Juan Diego 17, Hurricane 14.
AA: Well, I have to disagree somewhere and this looks like my spot. I was really impressed with both teams last week. They are clearly the best two teams in 3A and deserve to be here. I’m going to pick an upset here and go with Hurricane. The Tigers have to be able to establish their run, and slow down Juan Diego’s ground game. Huge tasks, but I think Hurricane is up to them. Hurricane 14, Juan Diego 13

4A Championship: Cottonwood vs Timpview
JC: If you follow comment boards on this website, you might be tempted to call this one the Salt Lake County all-stars vs the Utah County all-stars. It should be a good game. Both teams looked vulnerable in the semis. Both found a way to win. On paper, Timpview and Cottonwood are nearly equal in offensive output and both have strong defenses. It will probably come down to the team with more playoff seasoning, a factor which favors Timpview. I sense another 4A title going back to Utah County.Timpview 31, Cottonwood 15
DR: Mountain Crest didn’t play a perfect game against Timpview in the semifinals a week ago, but for most of the second half, it was pretty darn close. Sophomore QB Alex Kuresa shredded Timpview’s imperious defense and made play after play after play. And after all of that, the T-Birds still came out on top. I don’t think Timpview got nearly enough credit in the aftermath of last week’s contest. The T-Birds took MC’s best shot and still had the goods to win and advance. You can’t discount what Cottonwood has accomplished this fall, but I think Timpview showed the heart of a champion last week, and I look for the Thunderbirds to hoist their third championship in a row on Friday. Timpview 30, Cottonwood 24
AA: It was interesting to see both teams have to pull out close victories last week. It was just nice to see a couple of good games on Friday after the Thursday games were duds. Anyway, Timpview isn’t at full strength, but I still think it wins. Losing Bronson Kaufusi will just make the game closer than it would have been originally. Timpview 35, Cottonwood 21

5A Championship: Alta vs Bingham
JC: This promises to be the best game of the day. It was a classic when they met last year in the semis and a classic when they decided the 5A title in ’06. Both teams are on as much of a roll as you could ask for coming into the title game. Alta took the regular season matchup 27-19, but I think Bingham has improved dramatically enough since then that the Hawks are no lock to repeat. QB play will decide this one, I think. Ammon Olsen has thrown for more yards and touchdowns, but Jake Soffe is a more accurate passer in terms of completion rate. Somehow, I think the Miner defense can get Olsen to throw a bad pass or two and that will make the difference. Bingham 21, Alta 20
DR: Alta’s only loss this year is of course to 10-0 Grant of California, and the Hawks’ resume includes an early-season win over the team it faces in Friday evening’s championship contest. Indeed, the Hawks have done little wrong in defense of their state title this fall, and with Ammon Olsen and Co., they have the weapons to make life miserable for anyone. But I just think Bingham is too strong. The Miners have shown focus and resolve and toughness since their well-chronicled early-season struggles, and I give them the edge in this highly-anticipated rematch. Bingham 27, Alta 21.
AA: Alta-Bingham III. Catchy isn’t it? I didn’t think I’d be in a position to pick Bingham to win this game after the Hawks beat the Miners in Week 2. But Bingham is much better now, and has the look of a state champion. I think the Miners go up by a couple of scores early in the game, and the Hawks make it close late. Bingham 21, Alta 14

Utah vs BYU
JC: Anyone who knows me can already predict where this pick is going. BYU won on miracle plays created two head-scratching late defensive lapses from Utah’s secondary the past two seasons. No way it will happen three years in a row. Why? Simply because Brian Johnson will light up the Cougars’ awful secondary and put this baby to bed well before the 4th quarter. Heck, I can see four or five players (Asiata,Louks,etc.) taking turns with direct snaps and scoring on BYU’s secondary. The Utes are too talented on both sides of the ball to fall at the last second in ’08 – especially when a BCS bid is on the line. Mark it down, Utah will be the first non-BCS team to earn a return trip to a BCS bowl game. But hey Cougar fans, you still have 1984, right? You’re still ‘fully invested’ in your ‘quest for perfection,’ right? I thought so. Utah 30, BYU 17
DR: If you lined up Utah’s 2004 BCS team against its current counterpart, I don’t think it would even be close. From top to bottom, the ’04 bunch was legit in every way, while this year’s Utah team has barely survived. But the point is the Utes have survived, and I think they’ll get a shot at another BCS game this January. Simply put, BYU’s defense matches up so poorly against Utah’s offense that it’s scary. On that side of the ball, BYU, in my opinion, has but two hopes: 1, that Brian Johnson can’t pass the ball to wide-open receivers or 2, that Andy Ludwig tries to mess around with gadget plays and the like instead of directly attacking BYU. The game should be close as it seemingly always is, but I’m taking the Utes. Utah 34, BYU 27.
AA: Speaking of ’04, early in the season I thought BYU was going to put together a season similar to Utah’s ’04 campaign. I realized that notion was laughable, and I did before BYU got hammered by TCU in Fort Worthless. It became crystal clear to me that the Cougars weren’t headed for the BCS when they were sloppy and couldn’t finish drives against powerhouse Utah State. Urban Meyer’s ’04 team just didn’t have games like that, and I haven’t been a believer in BYU since that game. So I think Utah rolls in this game. Hide the children. It will be ugly. Utah 45, BYU 11