This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

EDITOR'S NOTE • This is one in a series of previews of Utah's high school football programs. They will run throughout the summer leading up to the 2014 regular season, which begins Aug. 21.

South Sevier Rams

A lot of good ideas have come out of Stanford.

South Sevier coach Weston Zabriskie took a few for himself last season, and he hopes it will help his Rams take the next step.

South Sevier was mired in a five-game losing streak and Zabriskie was troubled by constantly having to rotate his two stud tight ends in and out of games, when a Stanford game on TV caught his eye.

"Gosh. They have two really good tight ends. Two or three running backs and a very good quarterback. That's what we have," Zabriskie said. "We sat down as a coaching staff and re-evaluated what we had and kind of went to a two-tight end, power running game. And things started to happen."

The Rams made it to the Class 2A quarterfinals last season. With talent returning on both sides of the ball, they want more this time around.

"Our motto is 'expect victory,'" Zabriskie said.

That will start with tight ends Brock Bastian and Josh Howell.

"They have a lot of athletic ability and do a lot for us in our passing game," Zabriskie said. "They really understand the game. They'll be our outside linebackers, too. And they've both put on 10-15 pounds of good solid strength."

Back too is quarterback Trevor Jones, a 1,500-yard and 15-touchdown passer who enters his third year as starter.

"He has unbelievable leadership skills and he's a great athlete, too," Zabriskie said, adding that the 4.0 student has had some interest from Harvard.

Last year • 4-7 (lost in 2A quarterfinals)

Key returners • Tight ends Brock Bastian and Josh Howell will be big targets for three-year starting QB Trevor Jones.

Player to watch • The Rams' backfield will have talent with tailback Alex Baker and fullback Roger Hall. But Zabriskie believes running back Avery Healey has a chance to turn heads. "I think he has the potential to be one of the top two or three backs in 2A," the coach said.

Biggest hole • With starters returning at most skill positions, the Rams' biggest question mark is the inexperience of its linemen.

Need to know • South Sevier felt like it let off the gas after a big early-season win at San Juan last year. Zabriskie thinks a lesson has since been learned. "We felt we underachieved last year. We had a lot of talent," he said. "The urgency and the desire to be a really good team kind of took a back seat," he said. "They kind of felt like they arrived."