HURRICANE - Nobody would blame Hurricane if it took a peak at the bracket and saw that its arch-nemesis, Juan Diego, was located just three spots down.
But the Tigers haven't done that before and don't plan on starting now, especially with a quarterfinal game against Grantsville on tap.
"It hasn't been hard," said Hurricane coach Chris Homer about keeping his troops focused for Friday's 5 p.m. tilt against the Cowboys at Tiger Stadium. "My coaches do a great job at making sure the guys are every week.
"We're going to take it one game at a time because you have to. Every good team does. In the past, we've never looked past anybody and I don't think this is the week we start doing that."
Good enough. The coaching staff isn't looking ahead. But are the players?
"We don't focus on what's ahead," running back Weston Yardley said. "We have to win this game first. We couldn't make it to the semis or finals (if we don't win). We're trying to focus on this week. Then next week, we'll worry about who's next."
With the mental ducks in a row, all the attention focuses on Region 11's second-place squad.
If statistics are any indication, Grantsville will pose a viable threat to a Hurricane offense that is averaging close to 40 points per game.
The Cowboys (7-4) are allowing 13 points per game - second in 3A in the category - behind none other than Juan Diego.
"They (Grantsville) have a tough defense," Homer said. "They could potentially give us problems on offense if they execute better than we do. Nobody has been able to do that all year, however, and I hope this is one of those situations."
That's not to say the Cowboys are an impenetrable force.
On Oct. 13, Grantsville allowed 33 points to Region 11 rival Stansbury, including 105 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns to quarterback Chase Christiansen.
It should serve as good news for the Tigers backfield of Taylor Parker, Brian Scott and Yardley.
"Brian Scott is our leading back and a lot of teams keep him in mind," Yardley said. "That opens for Taylor to pass and for me and Adam (Thompson) to get around. If someone shifts to our passing game, we go back to Brian."
Yardley and Homer both expect a raucous crowd to be on hand for the final home game of the season, and the two want to send the seniors out on a happy note before making the trip up to Salt Lake City for a potential return visit to the state championship game.
"Our fans bring it every game," Yardley said. "It's tough to play here with the atmosphere and we come to play when we're at home."
As for the potential of playing the team that had crushed his team's hope of a state title the past three seasons, Yardley isn't tipping his hand on which team he would prefer to see on the other side of the field come next Thursday.
"If we do beat Grantsville, we'll have one of two great teams to play in Spanish Fork or Juan Diego," he said. "It's always fun to go up to Rice-Eccles and play the schools up north and other good teams."
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