Salt Lake City East continues to build, playing Valor Christian

The revival of Salt Lake City (Utah) East is a family affair for Brandon Matich.

The fifth-year head coach is in the middle of the restoring a program that his grandfather had once led for 27 years. The season before the second generation coach took over resulted in a 1-8 record however it finished at 13-1 and No. 3 in the state this past year — and has a 45-7 record under Matich.

Entering 2014 he has eyes on a state title as well as expanding into out-of-state play with a freshly signed contest against Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Valor Christian.

“It isn’t coachspeak when I say that the game is a tremendous opportunity for us,” Matich said. “We are building something special here and we want to get on the national map, we want to have the national rankings, we want to take down Bingham as the top team in the state.

“Last year we played Kahuku out of Hawaii and this year we have Valor. We tried to get St. John Bosco from California on the schedule but we couldn’t rearrange the other games to make that happen but we want to play the best teams we can. We hope to be playing two major games each year from now on.”

The games played by East are following in the path of Bingham as the Miners have played both Kahuku and Valor Christian in recent years but Matich said the game he is negotiating for next year would be the most prestigious played by any team in the state.

Utah high school football has been one of the most steadily improving at the highest levels over the last decade.

Programs like Alta (Sandy), Bingham, Jordan (Sandy), and Timpview (Provo) have made appearances in the HSFB100 national rankings.

Others like Brighton (Salt Lake City), Lone Peak (Highland), Pleasant Grove, and Logan have also been given consideration.

East has been a part of the growth with two of its seven losses being final minute fallings in the state finals.

“We are close,” Matich said. “I really think that once you get that first state title they become more commonplace because you know how to win it.

“We have gotten over the hump of beating Alta, beating Jordan, being undefeated in our region, we have our eyes on the state title and we have our sights set on Bingham.”

Bingham finished the 2013 season at No. 29 in the HSFB100 and has ended the season ranked in three of the last six years with a highest placement of No. 10 nationally.

It has signed a home-and-home agreement with Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman as it looks to keep its lead over the rest of the state.

Matich does not think Bingham will give his team a shot on the field.

“There is no question that they are on top right now,” he said. “They have the success and the titles and they are on top of Class 5A. We are in 4A and there has been a battle with us, Timpview, Logan, and we are trying to get Bingham to take us on but I don’t that that will happen.

“We want to be on top, we will play anybody at any time and we are not intimidated. I have a roster full of hard workers that want the challenge. I understand Bingham doesn’t have anything to gain but we want them.”

It wasn’t always this way for Matich.

When he first took over he said that participation was not at an acceptable level.

“Honestly I was out in the halls and I couldn’t get the kids to come into the weight room let alone put in the effort,” he said. “This was a beaten down program that had the talent but didn’t have enough people believing in them and pushing them.

“We have 70 kids working hard right now. I can look for teaching moments in the weight room because it is running itself right now. We are keeping some of the better players in our boundaries instead of watching them go to other open enrollment schools. We are a proud program again.”

The East program that Matich is leading is dramatically different from that of his grandfather.

“The East he coached was very white — it was the preppy school,” Matich said. “We have a different make-up right now and we have different challenges but we are on the right path to success.”

Currently the school is nearly two-thirds on free or reduced lunch, it has gang life, and the team is nearly 70 percent Polynesian.

Players like Haloti Ngata chose to go to Bingham but were originally zoned for East. That level of player is staying put and it is paying dividends.

Linebacker Christian Folau is currently committed to Stanford and three other players could land scholarship offers this year.

Lorenzo Manu, Sione Mafua, Hausia Sekona are Class of 2015 prospects that figure to join Folau as players with offers. Young prospects like Loa Kaufusi, Cole Peterson, and Soni Fonua will be next in line.

The success would be following the footsteps of the graduating senior class which signed Ula Tolutua to Wisconsin, Korey Rush to Nevada, Tennessee Su’esu’e to Boise State, and Joe Tukuafu as well as Preston Curtis to Utah State.

The team will have a young but talented backfield and a defense that figures to keep it coursing towards a state title.

Matich said that this year will help prove that his team has become his program.

“We will be young this year but I believe we will still compete for a state title,” he said. “When you are competing in years that people think you should be rebuilding that is when you really know you have something.

“Right now is an exciting time for us and I believe we are on the right path. We have some challenges in front of us but we welcome them. The bar is set high for a reason.”

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