Skip to main content

Football: Morgan opens preseason play with a tough schedule

Jun 06, 2024 12:50PM ● By Brian Shaw

A Morgan Trojans football player is bottled up at the point of attack at the 3A semifinal at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. Photo by Jessica Jorgensen

To open this season, there may not be a more difficult high school football schedule in all of Class 3A, let alone the state. 

For this Morgan Trojans team that watched their season slip from their grasp at the 3A semifinals and that lost several starters, this schedule won’t be doing them any favors. 

First off on Friday, Aug. 16, the Trojans play the home game of an originally scheduled home-and-home series against Crimson Cliffs, the defending 4A champion that absolutely throttled Green Canyon 33-0 to win that title. 

Six days later on Thursday, Aug. 22, Morgan will host Sky View, another school out of 4A that was a state tournament quarterfinalist. 

If anyone thinks that the preseason is over for the Trojans at this point, it is not. Morgan will travel to Idaho State University and play Pocatello Skyline at a neutral site [Holt Arena] on Saturday Aug. 31. 

On Friday, Sept. 6, the Trojans will then head over to 2A state semifinalist Layton Christian for a short road trip there. Morgan will wrap up preseason play on Friday Sept. 13 with a rematch against Kearns, the team out of 5A that the Trojans upset last year by the score of 33-31. 

For this Trojans team that returns several players named Deseret News 3A honorable mention last year, they’re looking to improve on their 8-4 record under head coach Jared Barlow who himself has a 38-11 career record at the school. 

Morgan will also return to play in the 3A North division minus South Summit which dropped down to 2A for football. 

The Trojans are the defending division champs, having posted a 5-0 record against the likes of Ben Lomond and Grantsville, as well as Juan Diego of Salt Lake City, Ogden and Union. Morgan will again be paired up with those five teams in the 3A North. 

In region play alone last year, the Trojans were absolute juggernauts, scoring 205 points and allowing just 35—the football equivalent on defense of five total touchdowns. 

That’s an impressive stat in and of itself in five region games. What might excite Trojan faithful even more is the fact that their returning quarterback, one of their star wide receivers and their second-leading rusher are all slated to play this fall, barring unforeseen injury setbacks. 

The initial roster doesn’t include several other offensive linemen, one of which was also named as an honorable mention in Class 3A last year but may once summer conditioning ends. λ

Subscribe to the Morgan County News