No. 12 Orem (8-4) vs. No. 1 Salem Hills (11-1)
- 5A state tournament semifinal
- Thursday, 11 a.m. (At Rice-Eccles Stadium)
- Parry’s Power Guide: Orem by 10
- All-time series: Orem leads 5-4
- Coach vs. coach: Orem’s Jeremy Hill leads Salem Hills’ Harry Schwenke, 2-0
- Last meeting: Orem 49, Salem Hills 14 (2018)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Orem Tigers and Salem Hills Skyhawks are no strangers.
Prior to this season, they were Region 10 foes, facing off annually in both 2017 and ‘18.
Orem was the dominant side then, defeating Salem Hills 42-17 the first time around and 49-14 in the subsequent meeting.
The regular-season series between the schools ended this year, as both teams made the leap to 5A as part of the latest shuffling of classifications.
Orem ended up in Region 7, Salem Hills in Region 8 and expectations that the Tigers and Skyhawks would play this year vanished.
As fate would have it, though, the teams will face off in 2019 after all, in the semifinals of the 5A state tournament.
Salem Hills comes in as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, courtesy of a nearly flawless regular season.
The Skyhawks finished the year 9-1 overall, the only setback coming to Provo. The team’s success has continued into postseason play, with a 24-7 win over Bountiful in the second round and a 37-0 beatdown of the Wasatch Wasps in the 5A quarterfinals.
The Skyhawks haven’t even played their best game yet, either.
“We feel like we haven’t played a perfect game yet,” Salem Hills coach Harry Schwenke said. “It is tough, because if we are executing like we should I like our chances against anybody. As of right now, we are really trying to eliminate the turnovers and not make so many mistakes in games.”
Turnovers were rampant in the runaway win over Wasatch, a result that spoke to both the return of quarterback Jarret Elmer — Elmer missed three games with a broken index finger — and the elite nature of the team’s defense.
Elmer threw three interceptions in the win as he tried to shake off some rust.
“That is what it was. A lot of it was shaking off the dust and trying to get back into his groove,” Schwenke said. “Some of those interceptions weren’t just on him, either. Some of them were play calls, some of those were on receivers and protection too.”
All the mistakes didn’t matter, however, due to the dominant nature of the Salem Hills defense, the second-best scoring defense in 5A.
“It has been the strength of our team,” Schwenke said. “They know each guy is going to do their job and sometimes more. I think that is what is special about this team. There are no individuals. We have a couple of guys who are being looked at, but they play as a group, as a team. That is really how you become a really good defense.”
Orem boasts its own stout defense, one that has come into its own of late with the return of superstar linebacker Noah Sewell to the lineup.
“Any time you get Noah Sewell back from injury — and he is still not 100% — but when that guy is in the middle he will make any defense in the state special,” Orem coach Jeremy Hill said. “We have some studs around him, too. Paxman Skipps has had a great year, Jayden Ah You has had a great year. There are a lot of great pieces around him.”
The No. 12-seeded Tigers held both their first- and second-round opponents, Viewmont and Brighton, to just six points each, before outdueling Olympus in a 31-28 quarterfinal thriller.
“We are peaking at the right time,” Hill said. “We used the same recipe that we have used the past two years, where we play a very top-heavy preseason schedule, and now we are battled-tested. It really helps the boys stay composed, which showed in the fourth quarter last week when they stayed in it and were able to pull that win out. We are playing our best football right now, which is exactly what we want.”
Schwenke and the Skyhawks understand the challenge in front of them.
“It’s the same as always,” Schwenke said. “They have some of the best athletes around. They are going to rely on those guys. They are tough to beat. We are just going to do our best to come out there and give them a challenge.”
Hill, for his part, noted that this year’s Salem Hills team is different from the one the Tigers have dominated in the past.
“They are more physical on both sides of the ball, especially on the line of scrimmage,” he said. “The biggest difference is they are a No. 1 seed and a one-loss team. Anytime you build momentum with that many wins in a season you get confidence which is what they should have right now with what they’ve done. Our job is to go out and shake them a little bit, take that confidence away early.”
Orem statistical breakdown
Scoring offense: 30.3 ppg (6th in 5A)
Scoring defense: 19.1 ppg (9th in 5A)
Passing leader: Kana’ipono Kahala-Giron (84-139, 60.4%, 1,350 yards, 9 TDs, 5 INTs), Micah Fe’a (73-125, 58.4%, 1,032 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT)
Rushing leaders: Noah Sewell (58 carries, 467 yards, 9 TDs), Buju Tuisuvura (61 carries, 449 yards, 3 TDs)
Receiving leaders: Jaxon Williams (52 rec., 634 yards, 4 TDs), Brinton Paulson (43 rec., 489 yards, 5 TDs)
Tackles leaders: Paxman Skipps (82 tackles), Noah Sewell (77 tackles)
Sack leaders: Paxman Skipps (11 sacks), Tauhi Tupola, Maka Vaka’afi (9 sacks)
Interception leaders: Buju Tuisuvura (4 INTs)
Salem Hills statistical breakdown
Scoring offense: 34.1 ppg (4th in 5A)
Scoring defense: 11.5 ppg (2nd in 5A)
Passing leader: Jarret Elmer (126-234, 53.8%, 1,903 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs), Luke DeGraffenried (30-55 54.5%, 440 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs)
Rushing leaders: Jordan Ware (169 carries, 1,191 yards, 10 TDs), Sam Hughes (114 carries, 982 yards, 7 TDs)
Receiving leaders: Austin Hallows (30 rec., 570 yards, 4 TDs), Reed Johnson (27 rec., 523 yards, 9 TDs)
Tackles leaders: Sam Hughes (79 tackles), John Nelson (42 tackles)
Sack leaders: John Nelson (10 sacks)
Interception leaders: Jake Meuter (8 INTs)
Felt’s Facts for Orem High School
All-time record: 526-309-21 (91 years)
Region championships: 28 (1935 co, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 co, 1974, 1985 co, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996 co, 2000 co, 2004-co, 2012, 2013 co, 2017, 2018, 2019 co)
Playoff appearances: 55
All-time playoff record: 59-47
State championships: 7 (1962, 1968, 1994, 2017, 2018)
State championship record: 7-7
Felt’s Facts for Salem Hills High School
All-time record: 65-66 (12 years)
Region championships: 0
Playoff appearances: 9
All-time playoff record: 4-8
State championships: 0
State championship record: 0-0
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2pfitPJ
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