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Show I WXLMW.R 30, 1981 t Four Of States Finest Clustered In View from the trenches Region One Keim Duncoa leader DtT h? vurjiM?J fn4 Mr of the Mate a hero tor the loyton Lancer state football team and now one of the bulwarks anchoring BYUi defensive line, Brandon Flint kept an excutsfve diary for the Leader of events and feelings as the First Cougars prepared for the Holiday if on February 28th you finoi prep bucket ball teams vuming from ffgiofi one and buinj il'f bil for a lavitf of fhry in the annual Mate 4-- Bowl. see next page basketball litymameni. kn be surprised either if on (he fulloi jng Saim Jay nijihi. yuu find these same four teams lank my two. thiei?. for and foe. Haunt iful null ikel Nr the fM place team in the state, but tuim one comes in right behind with vmie mul talent themselves. i Ihv league is haded this winter. I rum top la I'ottom every Mu.d tull be eompetitve and var-d'lo ammny the league. 'biiau the pieM?uMin every Key ion One mmJ j uMed a winning record and had come as pies e vie loncs under their belts. Weber Korneev Hountiful in the first half ol that con-iw- t. but finally fell to a valiant Brave come k m he sceond. SECTION e Out And Out Warfare Ky won the Has f.ldcr Tournament with same impressive victories. Bonneville, when in high year, was unbeatable as Davis High found out. Sky View topped Bonneville in Layton trounced East. West, Cotton-woo- d and a number of other ferocious foes and last, but not least, Clearfield went 3 before the Christmas break with distinctive victories over West. Ogden and American fork. from week to week, these six schools will st.gc some battles that w ill probably be classed as warfare. Last season the final state rankings saw Roy in fourth place. Clearfield in fifth and Bonneville in sixth. This season will be even better when the dust finally settles. dow n on the couch, nev cr to get up on my feet again. The adrenalin in my body just went Falcon Basketball flat," the father reported. IN RF.CENT months Mr. Jensens condition has continued to improve in areas such as his mental capacity and his digestive system. Despite his condition he is carefully assisted to Matt's games where his heart becomes full with the success his healthy son enjoys. "The thing I appreciate about Matt, the biggest thing of all. is the fact he stuck with athletics. He would come in on several occasions, very disappointed and asking me if he should quit. I told him he didnt want to be a quitter, but always left the decision up to him. n. 6-- Region One wars begin on January 7th with Weber visiting Clearfield, Sky View invading Layton and Roy and Bonneville squaring off in one of their battles. The next week finds Clearfield traveling to Bonneville. Lay ton on the road to Weber and Roy getting set for another meeting with Sky View. On January 21st. a game of local interest will put the Clearfield Falcons against the Layton Lancers. This featured contest ought to be a Doug Moon, the veteran coach at Layton, has commented, "When we play Clearfield I probably don't sleep well for a week and a half before the game. Nearly every coach in the region felt that winning at home was the key to having a winning record and getting into the playoffs. "Without winning at least all your home games, with maybe the exception of one, a team will have a hard time trying to make the playoffs," commented Moon. Layton would appear at this time to have a clear-cu- t edge inexperience coming back. Three of their starters this year were starters most of Iasi season w hile their other two starting people saw plenty of varsity action last year too. A Mighty Tribute To Him jim-dand- . Lancers Not There Yet But the Lancers are still no where Coach Moon wants them to be. They fell to both Woods Cross and Brighton in which just happen to be two very good prep teams themsevles. Its the opinion of many that if another couple of teams come ready to play, the Lancers could find themselves in a losing situation. But on the other hand, if Brad Merrill, Keith Williams and Brett Campbell starts producing like they're capable of doing, the Lancers could very well glide through the league without a defeat, maybe one loss to Clearfield at th? most. The fine individual talent that stalks Region One is another issue in itself. The state doesnt have any finer than in players like Bonnevilles Sic Moore. Clearfield's Mark Wilson, Roys Reid Newey and Layton's Keith Williams. All of these players will be at or near the top in scoring, rebounding, assists and a area of leadership. And talk about coaching experience. When Con-ollyou put Roy's Ted Smith. Weber's Dick and Layton's Doug Moon together, it would take an aircraft carrier to load all the knowledge they know about the game. All are masters of the game. Conolly is the only one of the three to have won a state championship, but the others have come extremely close. The final conclusion is that there won't be many places on Friday night, that will be more exciting than finding a seat in one of the Region One basketball gymnasiums. n, Inexperience nearly kept Matt Jensen from the Falcon basketball roster, but exhibiting some of the ambition of his father Don, Matt has become the leading rebounder. ' Predictions Hes A Pleasant Surprise By KEITH DUNCAN Journal Sports - Matt Jensen has visions of CLEARFIELD smooth a thoroughbred with lean, becoming his athletic skills, but like any young colt, only time and experience will tell the story. ONCE A frisky young thing as a sophomore at all, Jensen has with virtually no know-hohas netted some that two or won a race lately valuable confidence. The Clearfield High senior played football for the first time in three years this past fall, making improvements at a tough defensive tackle position that amazed everyone from his father, a former football coach himself, to a few junior college scouts along the way. w but when a had Darts winning the is the last time Mike Gardner always brings his club in league mg slowly but just in time to battle in all their games by iy. The Darts will stay coaches always y means they can and the :m to come up with a way to do it. DAVIS IS struggling in pre-seas- pre-iso- t, 1 t t to V if Pursuaded To Coach al y. "HE STAYED with things and it's a mighty tribute to him. His greatest problem has been lack of experience and that can discourage anyone," said Mr. Jensen. Matt commented further. "When my dad comes to my games I know I play better. Hes been the one that has kept me going through all of this, hes the bottom line to all my success." MATT IS the second to the youngest of eight boys in the Jensen clan. He also has four sisters, three of which are older than he. Jim and David both played football at Clear- field High and both' were football' ' guards, Jim having played while his dad coached the Falcons. The other brothei s Include Daniel, Clifford, Russell, Jense, tnen Matt and Larry who is a sophomore at Clearfield. Sharon, Julie, Susan and Jennifer arc his sisters. PERHAPS the reason Matt never suited up in football gear for a couple of years was his size, but the two years between his sophomore and senior years took care of that. As his senior year of football progressed. Matt continually improved until he earned himself a starting role. As his father stated, always an observer from the sideline, "Despite a lack of fundamentals, Matt had a lot of desire and natural sense for football. You usually dont go out and play a good defensive tackle position unless youve got a little experience, but I thought Matt did a pretty good job. Having seen most of his games, I considered Matt one of the hardest hitters they had. MR. JENSEN said many similarities exist with Matt and the growth structure he experienced as a youth. "When Matt returns from his mission (he intends to spend 18 months on an LDS mission), it wouldnt surprise me if he weighed 220 pounds, said the father. Mr. Jensen has always had a love for athletics but admits that his sons have always made their own decisions whether to play or not. Around holiday season time, its not uncom- mon to find all the boys huddled around the T.V. basking in a college bowl game. As Mr. Jensen stated, Weve had some pretty fun times together. n. NOW MATT has shed the pads for a pair of sneakers and some trunks and is doing his thing for Craig Hansen and the Falcons basketball team. Too inexperienced and perhaps too fris ky are a couple of reasons Jensen almost didnt make the '82-8- 3 roster, but oh how the guy has improved. After nine games, and some tough opposition to boot, Jensen has surprised himself and everyone else and is the leading rebounder on Hansens rebounding minded club. JENSEN, who as a sophomore stood 7 and weighed in at 150 pounds, now measures 3 and weighs in over 180. His quick growth in two years is one good reason his athletic career continues to march on. Ive always had the knack of getting around people for rebounds, said Jensen as he sat next to his father Don who listened in wheelchair. "For too long Ive been behind in fundamentals having never played much. But rebounding has always been something I could do well and I try extra hard at it. pre-seas- 5-- I didnt know Id start until just a before the first game. In fact after I couple days read that Jeff Parry might start in the paper, I had serious thoughts of spending some time on the bench, said the Clearfield senior. Matts escalation of success in athletics has touched more hearts than one. Take for instance Don, the father of Matt and eleven other children. This becomes a story within itself. beginning. 6-- JENSEN HAS been a regular from day one, but he had no idea it would be that way in the DON LEFT General Motors to come back to the University of Utah to continue his schooling and thats when he was pursuaded by Tiny Grant and others to enter the coaching ranks. At first I had a tough time making the decision, mainly from a financial point of view. I had a large family and money in coaching and teaching isnt much, but I entered it anyway. THE FIRST year I coached basketball at North Davis Junior where we lost only one game. After school Id go up to the high school to assist Grant with the defensive squad. Soon after that Jensen found himself teaching and coaching fulltime at Clearfield. Before he left coaching, he had been head coach of the Falcons for three years. MR. JENSEN is impressed with the 3 Falcon basketball team and would like to see them enter the state tournament. Theyve got the tools, that Mark Vyilson kid is one of the finest shooters Ive ever seen, he said. ' Matt is confident about the team too. All the players are winners. Some of us can score well, others can rebound and others play defense real well, but all of us are capable of putting all aspects together. The juniors coming off the bench also gives us a big boost too. 82-8- MR. JENSEN was once an active thorough- bred himself, having played three outstanding seasons of football at East High in Salt Lake City and four more at the University of Utah. He later made a tough decision to enter the coaching ranks and eventually became the head football coach at the same school Matt now performs at. But never knowing how to slow down, Don worked himself into a crippling situation which has confined him to a wheelchair. "I felt like a bull, like I could do everything and do it all at once. Then one day I came home and plopped "I THINK we can get it dope this year, concluded Matt. 3 25 B 3 Si |