When East visited West on Friday, it arrived 2-0 and left with its third win of the young season. But what caliber of team Leopards fans were watching was difficult to gauge as the Leopards battled their crosstown rival after the series took a year off.

East won 24-14, dominating the run of play but doing so sloppily. West looked out of sync pretty much from the start but managed to keep the game within reach until very late. So, how good is East? The matchup didn't seem to provide many answers.

East fans won't be devastated if their Leopards don't make the playoffs. It would be nice to qualify and looks to be a possibility — but just winning much at all is nice. After already tripling its win total from last season, East is off to a tremendous start, infusing hope for the future as much as for the present. Former Park City coach Brandon Matich — who transformed the Miners into a 3A force — has his new team at East churning out offensive yardage and wins to accompany them. While the offense scored 114 points in three games, the defense hadn't been as strong until Friday. After holding West's rushing attack to negative yardage, Matich was happy to see both sides of the ball producing in unison.

"Our defense played well — we needed to," Matich said. "We preached it all week because we weren't playing well defensively. But we gotta learn to play well on both sides of the ball simultaneously."

How much stock to put in East's wins is tricky, however. Wins over Pine View and West Jordan are looking solid, as those teams are both 2-1. But the four wins by Pine View and West Jordan have come against fairly suspect competition. As have West's. Against West, Juan Diego controlled the game before West managed an improbable fourth-quarter comeback. Then West defeated unheralded Tooele unconvincingly.

West's performance against East was unimpressive despite West scratching its way into a game that became closer than it maybe should have been. East was productive on offense in the middle of the field before penalties and mistakes flummoxed its red-zone performance. Two East touchdowns on consecutive plays were both called back for penalties.

Some of the mistakes definitely can be attributed to the added emotion of a renewing a rivalry that is 111 years old.

"In the summer, when we heard we were playing West, everyone was pumped," running back Liti Molisi said.

Molisi and quarterback Tanner Curtis have left no doubt about their ability. The junior and the senior, respectively, have each rushed for more than 400 yards this season, combining for nine touchdowns. Curtis has also passed for 339 yards and three scores. They hope to maintain that level of production when Region 6 play begins Friday.

A win or two more and there will be no questions about how good East is. —

How good are the Leopards?

East is 3-0, but it's hard to gauge just how good the Leopards really are.

The offense has rolled and the defense is improving, but discipline and opponent strength are question marks.

As region play begins, answers will emerge about what caliber of team East is. Big Number: 2. The number of weeks Judge Memorial has had to prepare for Wasatch. The banged up Bulldogs have had a change to heal up some in hopes of staying undefeated.

Player of the Week: Liti Molisi, East. Molisi was the driving force behind East's offense against West, rushing for 196 yards and a score.

Game of the Week: West @ Hunter. West looks to regroup after a tough loss against East. Both teams want to get a jump on Region 2 in a rematch of what was a large upset win for West last season.