Alta, Jordan take on east, west powerhouses in Rio Tinto football double header
The Alta and Jordan High School football programs will host two top football programs from California and New Jersey in a football doubleheader.
The Xfinity high school football challenge will take place at Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday, Sept. 4, and will feature the Jordan Beetdiggers playing Notre Dame High School (Lawrenceville, N. J.) followed by the Alta Hawks taking on Taft High School (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
“It is a Saturday night, so it isn’t competing with other high school games,” said Bill Manning, president of Rio Tinto Stadium. “And neither Utah nor BYU are playing at home, so it should shape up to be the football highlight night in the state of Utah.”
Manning said he has envisioned this kind of a football night for the stadium for a few years.
“We wanted to bring in an east coast powerhouse as well as a west coast powerhouse,” he said. “It made sense to have them play our two Sandy schools, since our stadium already draws a lot of fans from both school bases for our soccer games.”
The two teams coming have great football credentials behind them. Jordan’s opponent, Notre Dame, went undefeated in 2009 and posted an 8-1 record last year.
“Five or six years ago, we had to travel to Ohio and Georgia to get games against quality, high-profile squads like Notre Dame,” Jordan Athletic Director Marc Hunter said. “But now that we’ve had some success and built a bit of a name for ourselves, it will be outstanding for our school and community to host games like this. Getting those teams to Sandy should mark a significant change to the high school football landscape in Utah.”
Taft won the 1998 L.A. City section championship and has been to the finals six other times. It boasts Philadelphia’s Steve Smith and Tennessee Titan’s coach Jeff Fisher as alumni.
“We are very excited to play at Rio Tinto Stadium against one of the premier teams from California,” Alta football coach Robert Stephens said. “This is a big-time game in a big-time stadium, and we hope for a big crowd and expect excitement and enthusiasm from players, fans and coaches. This type of out-of-state competition puts Utah on the map on a national level, which is obviously a great thing for programs across the state of Utah.”
All four teams will meet the night before for a banquet at Rio Tinto Stadium. Then, Jordan will square off with Notre Dame in a 1 p.m. matinee and Alta will meet Taft that night at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available in advance at the Rio Tinto box office or online at www.RioTintoStadium.com. Student general seating will be $5 and adults will be $10 for either game if bought in advance. A two-game pass will be $8 for students and $15 for adults.
“We want to make this an annual event,” Manning said. “We want it to become an event that all high school football fans will want to come and see.”
