Ten weeks of high school football have led to this: the state tournament. 

In Class 5A, local schools Bountiful, Woods Cross and Viewmont are all in action this Friday in the first round, as the teams begin competing for a chance to win the state title. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks tied for second in Region 5 with a 5-2 record, one game behind Roy. Overall, Bountiful enters the playoffs with a 6-4 record. It got the No. 10 seed and hosts Cedar Valley on Friday. 

Bountiful defeated rival Woods Cross last Thursday, prevailing 24-17 on the road in the final game of the regular season. It was the fourth win in five games for the Redhawks. The back-and-forth game saw Emerson Geilman connect with Brandon Wilkinson on a 67-yard touchdown pass with 4:42 to play to break a 17-17 tie. Woods Cross couldn’t respond, and the Redhawks defeated the Wildcats for the fourth time in a row. 

Geilman also had a 6-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Siaki Fekitoa opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:02 left in the first quarter. Landon Zayas booted a 24-yard field goal with 8:54 left in the game. 

The Redhawks lost in the first round of the playoffs to Orem last season. Should they defeat Cedar Valley on Friday, the Redhawks would play at Granger, champions of Region 4. 

Woods Cross

The Wildcats’ loss to Bountiful to end the regular season left the team with a 6-4 record. At 4-3 in Region 5, Woods Cross placed in a tie for fourth. 

Against the Redhawks, Woods Cross got touchdown runs from Isaac Johnson (11 yards) and Charlie Coats (4 yards), along with a 25-yard field goal from Ben Smith-Mecham. Cash Henderson had nine tackles on defense.

The Wildcats have a good chance of moving to the second round. Their first-round matchup is at home with Taylorsville this Friday against a Warriors team that went 1-9 during the regular season (though Taylorsville’s lone win was originally a 49-0 loss to Chatfield, Colorado, and later ruled a forfeit). A Woods Cross victory would advance the team to play at Brighton on Oct. 27. 

Viewmont

The Vikings play at Maple Mountain on Friday to face the 5-5 Golden Eagles from Region 7. Viewmont enters the game with a 4-6 record. The Vikings were 2-5 in Region 5, tying for sixth place. 

Viewmont enters the Class 5A state playoffs on a two-game winning streak. The Vikings ended the regular season with a dominant 46-18 win over a struggling Clearfield team. 

The game was filled with big plays. 

The first score of the game came courtesy of Viewmont’s defense when Kingston Mickens intercepted a Clearfield pass and ran it back 96 yards for a touchdown. Following a Clearfield score, Drez Jensen took a 72-yard pass from Daren Tovey all the way to the end zone. Tovey and Mickens – playing offense this time – then hooked up on a 68-yard bomb for a touchdown. 

It was still the first quarter. 

Up 20-7, Viewmont increased its lead to 26-6 with an 8-yard touchdown run by Dax Nielsen. It was 26-12 at the break. 

In the second half, Tovey hit Mickens on a 62-yard TD pass, Mickens’ third big play of the game. Jensen then caught his second TD pass from Tovey when the two connected on a 30-yarder with 2:37 to play in the third quarter, making it 39-12. In the fourth quarter, both team scored touchdowns, as Viewmont ended the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:19 to play. 

Nielsen had 107 yards on the ground on 15 carries to lead all players. Tovey had 325 yards passing on only 10 completions, a 32.5-yard-per-completion percentage. Jensen totaled 131 yards and two touchdowns on three catches, while Mickens totaled 124 yards and two TDs on three grabs. On defense, Kellen Wood had 11 tackles and an interception. Landon Sharp had a sack to go along with 10 tackles. Mickens had two interceptions on the night, and Cooper Jeppesen added one of his own.