2023 5A Playoff Preview: Farmington vs. Valley View

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming into this first round matchup, the Farmington Cardinals finished the regular season with an 8-3 record while placing second in the 5A West. On the other side of the ball the Valley View Blazers come in finishing first in the 5A East while finishing 8-1 on the regular season. Both teams are coming off some momentum in the regular season. I think this should be one of the better matchups for the first round of the 5A playoffs!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming into the game the Cardinals have some very talented players all over the field but, every game is won or lost in the trenches. One of the leaders for the trenches for the Cardinals is [player_tooltip player_id='149539' first='Hunter' last='Marshall']. Marshall is coming off a great regular season playing Center. I do believe he is and will be one of the better Centers in the class 5A. Now he's not the biggest Center in the state, but let me assure you that he is one of those kids that is scrappy and knows how to perform when the lights turn on! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another guy in the trenches that I like to watch is [player_tooltip player_id='264719' first='Dawson' last='Triplett']. Dawson is the real edge setter playing tackle. All season long he was able to both set the edge on outside zone and also create gaps on the inside zone running game. I think if the want to succeed on offense running the ball, they must set the edge with Triplett and able to lean on Hunter to create gap on the inside. I think that Elsik will have a great night while leaning on a young, but very solid, offensive line for the Cardinals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On defense for the Cardinals the defensive line, I believe, will help win this game dramatically. The leader for that defensive line, in my opinion, is David Stettmeir. In the regular season, he was able to cause fumbles, blow up plays in the middle against solid offensive lines like Shiloh Christian. I think that he will have a great game against the Blazers. Another lineman that I like is defensive end, Carter Moad. I think he is agile enough to be successful and exploit the tackles for the Blazers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, the Blazers are not short of talent on both side of the football. On defense, they have Dekwon Gallaway. Gallaway plays defensive back and has great field vision and has a hard hat to hit with. I think he'll be one of the better playmakers for the Blazers, but there are some other players that stick out [player_tooltip player_id='280305' first='Brian' last='Huff'] at linebacker. I think he has great down hill speed and knows how to crash hard into the line of scrimmage. He also has patience to wait on the back to get to him and not get fooled by a play action or a read. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On offense for the Blazers one of the more explosive guys on the Blazer squad is Jackson Harmon. I think he has great height to combo with his hands to make for a great deep route guy. I expect him to have a good night catching the ball from, Junior Quarterback, Carson Turley. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think this will be a fantastic matchup. It's one of the tougher games to pick who will come out on top, but I think both squads have an even playing field to fight it out. Overall I think Farmington has a better line that the Blazers. I will defiantly be watching this one Friday night!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->