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Show Th u rs day quarterback Cedar versus Orem CEDAR CITY - What does Cedar High football coach Dave Jenson plan on having his club do tomorrow in their 3 p.m. playoff game against the Orem Tigers in Cedar City? "'We'll just do what we have to do," says Jenson. Sounds simple, but the fact of the matter is that the Reds will have their hands full when they tangle with the Tigers. Orem will enter the game as the third-place club from their region, but the region they play in is generally considered to be tougher than Cedar City's Region 8. Orem, as a team, runs about the same size-wise as CHS and also runs a lot period. They run a wishbone wish-bone offense. "They've got three good running backs in that wishbone attack," explains Jenson. "They like to run but they can pass. They don't throw the ball too badly." The wishbone, with its options and powers, should provide a good test for the Redmen defense and they have been working on stopping this style offense this week in their practice sessions. The offense of CHS will face a fairly tough defense. "They play an agressive defense," says Jenson. "They do quite a lot of stunting." Cedar will work to pick up blocking assignments and handle the stunts and various looks. The Tigers play mostly a 4-4 defense, similar to what CHS often does. Last year in postseason post-season play Cedar played tough defensively but wasn't able to generate enough offense to do the job and they were downed by Cypress in their first playoff contest. The Redmen offense will need to be potent if the Red-men Red-men hope to find playoff success beginning tomorrow. SUSC versus Colorado Mines CEDAR CITY The schedule of Halloween football games in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will signal the start of nail-biting and teeth gnashing for the remainder of the league season. "There are plenty of big games left, and we'll be playing in our share," Jack Bishop, head coach for the Southern Utah State College team, says. Bishop and his Thunderbirds Thun-derbirds head for their second consecutive "big one" this week. SUSC will challenge Colorado School of Mines Saturday at 1 p.m. in Golden, Colorado. Should the 'Birds manage a victory over the Orediggers, they still won't have sole possession of first place, even though the other two major contenders new Mexico Highlands and Mesa face each other. Here's the way things look this week: Mesa, with a 5-1 record, will risk leadership of the RMAC when it travels to Highlands, tied with the T-Birds with a 4-1 mark. Meanwhile, SUSC will face a dangerous non-contender non-contender on the road, in its attempt to keep up. Fort Lewis, 3-2 in the league and still very much alive in the title chase, also faces a dangerous foe on the road when it slips over Wolf Creek Pass to tangle with Adams State. Other key games left to be played in the post-Halloween post-Halloween action include Highlands at Fort Lewis (November 7) ; and Fort Lewis at Mesa, Southern Colorado at Highlands, and SUSC at Adams State (all November 14, the final week of league battles). We've reached that stage of the season where every game is important to the title contenders, and we figure that we have a good a chance as anyone to win the title. We also think that of the current top three teams SUSC, Highlands, and Mesa we might have the best chance at a postseason post-season playoff spot," Bishop says, explaining that the schedule of the T-Birds T-Birds is more conducive to climbing in the ratings than are the Highlands and Mesa schedules. "Of course, our first job is to win at Mines, and that is never easy. Last year Mines probably gave us our toughest game," Bishop remembers. Colorado Mines doesn't have a reputation for excessive speed, nor overpowering size. The Orediggers do, however, hit extremely hard. "They don't do a lot of different things, but those things they do, they do very well," Joe Lopour, SUSC assistant coach who has done the early Oredigger research, indicates. "We certainly respect the ability of Brian Savage, their top rusher," Bishop says. Last week Savage, carried t the ball 25 times in piling up an amazing 219 yards all by himself on the ground. That effort earned him RMAC offensive player of the week for second week. Savage is a 6-0, 203 pound senior. Mines' number one quarterback, senior Mark Gill, is back at full speed after an early season injury. The Orediggers like to throw the ball; they use split receiver Dan Murphy (155 pounds) and tight end Jim Bergamo (190) as their favorite targets. Defensively, safety Roger Flahive is strong. Linebacker Tom Van-derArk Van-derArk and end Lance Lamons make lots of tackles. All three are returning all-RMAC players. Flahive is dangerous on kickoff returns where he averages over 25 yards per carry. "Physically, we are in good condition; we've been lucky lately," Bishop says. "I don't think we will have to worry too much about taking Mines lightly. They were tough last year, and we have a number of players on the team who know how difficult it can be to win in Golden." Bishop expressed some concern over the ability of Western State to move the ball in the air last week in SUSC's 35-34 win. "Our pass rush was pretty good, and our secondary really didn't play that bad either. Part of it was the speed of their receivers. Mines probably doesn't have that kind of speed, but we can't allow that many passing yards (202)," the head T-Bird coach says. |