June 3, 2011

Dallas Jackson
Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the Senior Analyst for RivalsHigh. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him on Twitter.

In recent years, the national perception of Utah high school football has been on the rise.

Some top Utah high school programs will get the opportunity prove their merit on Labor Day weekend.

Provo (Utah) Timpview, Sandy (Utah) Alta and South Jordan (Utah) Bingham will head to California as part of a six-game series of games at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School.

"We plan on going out of state every other year," Bingham coach Dave Peck said. "This is a very exciting opportunity. It is sort of a Utah versus California challenge."

This is not sort of anything. It is a Utah against Southern California clash.

The trio of Utah teams will be taking on three storied programs from Southern California as part of four games being played on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend.

The opening game of the day will be Bakersfield (Calif.) High going against Timpview, followed by Los Angeles (Calif.) Crenshaw versus Alta and then Orange (Calif.) Orange Lutheran taking on Bingham.

Last season, Bingham became the first school in state history to finish in the Top 10 of the RivalsHigh Top 100 rankings, earning the No. 10 spot after a perfect 13-0 season.

The Mission Viejo Football Classic promoter Brian Hercules, owner of Hercules Sports Management LLC, says that this series of games just fell together.

"I was talking to the coaches in Utah and each expressed an interest in doing something," he said. "And the folks at Mission Viejo also wanted to host an event like this so it just made sense. It was easy to get both sides excited about signing on together once we were able to find quality opponents."

Two games will be played on Friday evening, with Cypress (Calif.) High taking on Bakersfield (Calif.) Garces and host school Mission Viejo lining up with Bakersfield (Calif.) Centennial.

The final game on Saturday night is the headliner, as Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian meeting Bellevue (Wash.) High.

Both teams will be ranked inside the RivalsHigh 100 when the preseason countdown begins July 25.

"We knew Oaks was going to be loaded," Hercules said. "And Bellevue doesn't shy away from anyone. It was a perfect finale."

Hercules, who was the former Athletic Director at Bellevue, said convincing his former coach was an easy task.

"I called Butch (Goncharoff) and let him know what was going on and he was instantly interested," Hercules said. "Bellevue has been to Texas, has had success against California teams and welcomes a challenge. This gives them that for sure."

It is a game that Hercules feels will likely end up on television.

"California has a deal with Fox Sports," he said. "So they have until July 15 for first refusal rights. If they pass, the game could be picked up by ESPN."

While the television audience will see a California versus Washington clash, the event belongs to the three Utah teams, all of which are very familiar with the other.

Friends off the field, sure. On it, they still want to win.

"We open our season with Timpview and then we play Bingham before we all travel together to California," Alta coach Robert Stephens said. "We try to kill them on the field, you know, but we have the utmost respect for them off of it."

Respect will turn into all-out fandom come Labor Day.

"Dang right I will be rooting for them," Stephens said. "It is going to be fun."

For Peck, and Bingham, fun also comes with a chance at redemption.

In 2009, the Miners traveled to Texas to take on Euless Trinity as the flagbearer for the state and lost, 42-21.

It was the last time Bingham lost and the memory is still with Peck.

"When we played Trinity we were young," he said. "That isn't an excuse and I don't regret going at all I wish we would have shown better. I really wish I could have traveled with that team last year. They were special."

This season's Bingham team is not expected to be as strong as last season's. Still, Peck is happy for the chance to show his state should not be discounted when it comes to talent.

"For a Utah team to get the kind of recognition we have had is great," Peck said. "We are hoping for all of the teams to be successful when we are out there. It would be great for the state."

The goal is clear and was repeated by the coaches, three-for-three.

"What we all want is to go in and get the win," Stephens said. "We want to go out and show the country we can play out of state. All three of us going together will show what we are made of."

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