By Dan Rasmussen, Deseret News Published: Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 10:32 a.m. MDT
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Emery (7-4) at Hurricane (10-1)
3A state tournament quarterfinal
Friday, 5 p.m.
Parry's Power Guide: Hurricane by 35
All-time series: Hurricane leads 4-1
Coach vs. Coach: Emery's Jim Jones and Hurricane's Chris Homer, first meeting
Last meeting: Oct. 28, 1995 — Hurricane 29, Emery 28 (3A quarterfinal)
Emery's big upset of Region 10 champ Park City at Park City on Day 1 of the 3A tournament generated a ton of discussion throughout the classification.
And then Day 2 happened.
Judge's stunning upset of Cedar at Cedar High instantly became the story of the opening round, overshadowing everything else that had happened, including what Emery had done less than 24 hours earlier.
Discussions about what happened to Cedar have most definitely taken place in the city of Hurricane, where folks just can't believe that a Cedar team that thumped their team only a week earlier would turn around and fall in the first round.
Don't think for one second, however, that the Hurricane Tigers have forgotten about last week's other upset.
Indeed, the Tigers — at least their players and coaches — all know what Emery did to earn the right to face them in the quarterfinal round, and they all know what the Spartans will bring to the table when they travel to Hurricane at 5 p.m. Friday.
Hurricane coach Chris Homer definitely does.
It took him no more than a few moments of watching Emery film to realize how tough the Spartans play.
"My first thought, within two or three minutes of watching film on them, is they just have a bunch of tough kids that are working really hard to really extend their season," Homer said. "Going to Park City — they're a four seed, Park City's a one seed, it's at Park City and Park City's had a lot of success the past few years — and I think it spoke volumes that they went in there and basically outplayed them and just beat 'em.
"Park City fought back and made it close at the end, but if you watch the film, they were ahead the whole game and it seems like they were more determined. They've just got a bunch of tough kids that worry me to death."
Homer's crew will enter Friday's big game against Emery with renewed confidence. Such belief took a battering when the Tigers were beaten up by Cedar two weeks ago, but Hurricane's players didn't let it keep them down as they responded by playing well to beat Morgan a week ago.
"Everybody said (after the Cedar game), 'This is a good thing that you lost,' but the reality is I wasn't sure because it was really devastating to our confidence as a team and coaching staff," said Homer. "It's probably easier for coaches to bounce back than kids, but I thought our kids were very determined and they played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts."
"They were very determined, very motivated — they didn't want their season to end. I thought they got us back on the right track."
Now Hurricane will aim to stay there by beating an Emery team that has gone 7-4 so far this season and is led by quarterback Cody Jones and running backs Colten Fasselin and Taylor Cox.
"They have an offense they believe in, and they have a bunch of tough kids on defense," said Homer.
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Emery statistical breakdown
Scoring offense: 26.4 ppg
Scoring defense: 17.5 ppg
Passing leader: Cody Jones (43-of-118, 36.4%, 791 yards, 9 TDs)
Rushing leader: Colten Fasselin (110 carries, 781 yards, 8 TDs)
Receiving leader: Nick Stoddard (18 receptions, 440 yards, 4 TDs)
Tackles leader: Nathan Mecham (84 total tackles)
Sacks leader: Not Provided
Interceptions leader: Kashe Porter (5 interceptions)
Note: Does not include stats from last week's game vs. Park City.
Hurricane statistical breakdown
Scoring offense: 35.6 ppg
Scoring defense: 14.4 ppg
Passing leader: Adam Long (67-108, 62%, 1,048 yards, 8 TDs)
Rushing leader: Jarom Healey (129 carries, 988 yards, 19 TDs).
Receiving leaders: Tran Smith & Jarom Healey (16 receptions, 313 yards, 1 TD; 14 receptions, 210 yards, 3 TDs)
Tackles leader: Taylor Parker (63 total tackles)
Sacks leader: Colton Marshall (2 sacks)
Interceptions leaders: Jarom Healey & Taylor Parker (2 interceptions)
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