Plenty on the line as Skyline travels to Hillcrest in key 5A matchup

District 6 Game of the Week

Skyline (3-0) at Hillcrest (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

IDAHO FALLS – The 5A High Country Conference title will likely be decided Friday night when Skyline faces Hillcrest in a rematch of last season’s state championship game.

Even though it’s early in the season, the Knights and Grizzlies have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the conference, where Idaho Falls, Shelley and Bonneville have yet to win a game this season.

The lone exception is Blackfoot, which is 2-1, but already has a conference loss against Skyline.

Skyline beat Hillcrest during the regular season last year, but the Knights played a near-perfect game in the state championship showdown to win 31-8.

What’s that mean for this season?

It means Skyline will probably have to play its best game of the season to keep pace with a Hillcrest team averaging more than 40 points per game.

For the first time in the teams’ history, Hillcrest will actually host the matchup after opening its new on-campus stadium last year.

The Knights are 8-1 at home since, with the only loss coming to 6A power Rigby last season.

Offensively, the Knights are led by returning state Player of the Year Tyson Sweetwood, who’s passed for 651 yards and six TDs so far this season, with seven receivers averaging 10 or more yards per game.

Skyline has averaged nearly 32 points over its past two games as the offense looks to solidify the quarterback spot with juniors Cooper Thomas and John Giannini both seeing time.

The Grizzlies defense has been solid with an impressive 9-6 win over Granger (UT) in the season opener and then holding off a late charge by Madison last week for a 28-27 victory.

There could be two interesting plots to this game.

First, how does the Hillcrest defense handle Skyline speedster Zyan Crockett, who has three rushing scores and two receiving touchdowns? He’s been a tough matchup for any opponent.

Second, Sweetwood gets plenty of attention for his passing, but he is also a threat to run. Dax Sargent, who leads the team in tackles from his linebacker spot, is also the team’s top rusher with 301 yards and five touchdowns.

Can Skyline stop the Knights’ running game while also keeping Sweetwood from torching them through the air?

Hillcrest is No. 2 in this week’s state media poll after Bishop Kelly took over the top spot following its win over Rigby. Skyline is No. 3 in the state poll.