Studying the Utah high school football schedules, I always look for interstate games. One of the most interesting matchups of 2017 will come Friday, when Desert Hills of St. George, with highly recruited lineman Penei Sewell, visits Mission Hills of California, which features quarterback Jack Tuttle, who’s committed to the University of Utah.
An international game really has my attention, though. A Canadian team is coming to Logan for the second annual Rocky Mountain Kickoff. There will be more glamorous games this season, such as IMG Academy visiting East, but I’m just as curious about this one: Raymond High School of Alberta will meet Cache Valley’s Ridgeline in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader at Maverik Stadium, after Sky View plays Springville.
“It’ll be a really cool experience to get to play a team from outside the country,” said Ridgeline coach Chris Howell. “I’m interested to see what they bring.”
My first question: What are the rules?
Canadian football teams ordinarily use 12 players, so the Raymond Comets will have to conform to American rules by using only 11 guys. That probably means subtracting a receiver, although part of the mystery for Howell in scouting his opponent is wondering exactly how the Comets line up.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN KICKOFF SCHEDULE <br>Friday at Utah State <br>5:30 p.m. • Sky View vs. Springville <br>8:30 p.m. • Ridgeline vs. Raymond (Alberta)
The Comets like to book an annual U.S. trip, so they’re accustomed to making that adjustment against teams in Montana, Idaho and Utah. “For the most part, we’ve been fairly competitive,” said Raymond coach Darryl Salmon, who will take about 40 players on the nine-hour bus ride from just across the Canadian border. He describes his players as “undersized farm kids that never quit.”
The opportunity to visit Logan stemmed from Raymond principal Jeremy Wynn, who competed in rodeo in his Utah State days. Dee Jones, promoter of the Rocky Mountain Kickoff, was looking for a fourth team and the timing was good.
The Rocky Mountain Kickoff matched Logan vs. Box Elder and Sky View vs. Riverton on the opening night of the season last year. USU accommodated the high school teams that used the Aggies’ locker room during their preseason practice. But Jones preferred a weekend when the Aggies were playing out of town and wouldn’t be displaced, so that’s among the reasons he chose the third week of the high school season.
The only complication is Cache Valley fans will have to pick between the doubleheader and USU’s televised game at Wisconsin, also scheduled Friday night. Local schools Green Canyon and Mountain Crest have home games.
Even so, Jones expects to top last year’s attendance of 5,200. He has lowered ticket prices and made more pre-sale efforts, after long lines at the ticket booth created the only real problem of staging the inaugural event.
The second Rocky Mountain Kickoff should be fun, thanks to the Canadians. As Salmon told Jones this summer, “This is like a Super Bowl to us.”