High school football: Crimson Cliffs looks like the safest bet in a wild 4A race

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Between final July and final August, highschool soccer coaches throughout the state forged their votes to the Deseret Information rating the groups of their area.

Quick ahead to October, and within the 4A classification, it’s nearly comedic simply how flawed the predictions have been in each Area 10 and Area 11. Nonetheless, among the many purple rocks of Area 10 in Southern Utah, one group has separated from the pack and appears just like the group to beat: Crimson Cliffs.

The Mustangs have burst onto the scene this fall, racing out to a 7-1 report, and have received 5 straight video games, the final three coming in blowouts. With the playoff only a few weeks away, their grip on the No. 1 spot in RPI is tighter than ever.

“The extra you win, the extra invaluable every sport turns into after that,” Crimson Cliffs coach Wayne Alofipo mentioned. “When you will have a possibility to be within the driver’s seat and management your individual future, it’s a very good factor. We’re lucky to be within the state of affairs we’re in proper now. … We’ve obtained our palms full close to the top of the season.”

Having received three video games this season by a landing or much less, Crimson Cliffs has been no stranger to shut matchups, however Pine View didn't provide that final Friday night time because the Mustangs rolled to a 40-14 victory over the Panthers. Junior quarterback Steele Barben accomplished 13 of 26 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and the Mustangs collected 224 complete dashing yards.

Of the 13 faculties comprising the divided 4A panorama, Crimson Cliffs is the latest, because the Mustangs performed their first soccer season in 2019. The group went 1-9 that 12 months, however since then, they elevated their win complete to 4, then eight and now seven with two common season video games to go.

The Mustangs had a mountain to climb at the start of this season, returning solely six seniors mixed within the beginning lineup, however after scraping by in a low-scoring win over Inexperienced Canyon, the Mustangs began to vastly outperform expectations, crushing 5A Spanish Fork and gathering two area wins towards the frequent powers, Deseret Hills and Snow Canyon. The Mustangs solely loss this season thus far got here from Timpview, a group nobody would have anticipated them to compete with.

Juniors like Barben, who has 20 landing passes to 5 interceptions, and Mason Topalian, who has over 400 dashing yards and 5 scores, encompass the few productive seniors on the group. A big benefit for Crimson Cliffs is that 5 of these six seniors are on the offensive or defensive position, giving measurement and management to maybe essentially the most essential place group in prep soccer.

Alofipo took over as head of this system this 12 months, however had expertise being a defensive coordinator at close by Dixie. His expertise working with a number of faculties inside the space is a standard theme, one which breeds familiarity and excessive competitiveness within the present 4A map.

A lot of the coaches in 4A proper now, Alofipo mentioned, have coached collectively at one level or one other. Due to that, not solely do the coaches perceive one another, however they have an inclination to run their groups very comparable.

For many classifications in Utah, two or three groups normally reign over the remaining and have the most effective shot at successful the state championship. Alofipo mentioned he can moderately see eight groups throughout 4A (over half the classification) go on to win all of it this season

“The 4A deal is large open proper now,” Alofipo mentioned. “There’s numerous good groups from the north and the south. … It’s all based mostly off of matchups. The seeding goes to actually matter (within the playoffs). Like I informed our younger males, we maintain the important thing to that proper now.”

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