Skyline’s Early Football History

Since the school opened in 1962, Skyline has taken home 14 State Championships. This incredible number is one most teams never will reach. It began with Kent Hancey, who is the first Eagle to score a touchdown. 5 years after the school first opened in 1967, Skyline took home their first of what would be many trophies in the football department.

Olympus wasn’t necessarily that important in the 1967 season, but taking home a state championship was a major loss to the Titans. In 1963, seniors could elect to stay at Olympus or move to Skyline.

This was because Skyline needed more students in order to remain a solid school, and Olympus was full of kids that could be in the Skyline boundary.

Fearing the idea of starting up a brand new school, most seniors stayed a Titan. Forcing the Eagles to play with only Juniors and Sophomores. Four years later, Skyline was at the top of the high school football world.

This would start a massive rivalry between the Eagles and Titans. The game is played every year between the two clubs and is one of the biggest rivalries in the state where attendance nearly doubles on both sides of the ball.

The winner takes home what is called “The Rock”, a football-shaped stone that gets painted the color of the winning school and put in a trophy case. Of course, Skyline’s goal every year, along with a state championship, is to make sure “The Rock” is painted in navy blue and gold. 

Skyline has gone 26-22 with one tie throughout the years. While Skyline still is holding a small lead on the series, that does not exactly mean we are dominating the competition.

Skyline has lost seven of the last eight meetings against the Titans, the last one being a 31-14 blowout in Olympus territory, and don’t forget about the 24-17 heartbreaker in 2015.

After winning state in 1967, Skyline once again defeated the odds and won state again in 1969. This was followed by four titles in 1970, 1976, 1977, and 1979, under the coaching of Ken Schmidt.

By now, the school has won 6 championships in only 25 years which is pretty insane. It usually takes 30-40 years to accomplish such a feat.

Skyline had set itself up to be a powerhouse over the next few years. Schmidt was later recognized for his excellent coaching, and was signed as a defensive coordinator for Brigham Young University, with his assistant coach Ron Haun also becoming a successful College coach, helping to develop Rick College into a nationally recognized, championship college football program later on.

As good as Skyline had been in the 70s, the 1980s were considered relatively dark years for Skyline High School. The team was not ever able to capture a title in those years, and Skyline itself was struggling with attendance, which led to problems putting an entire team together. This all changed with the introduction of Roger Dupaix.

Dupaix is one of the best football coaches throughout Utah high school football history. Under his control, Skyline became once again a football powerhouse, taking home the trophy again in 1990 and again in 1993.

But this would only the beginning of what Dupaix would do with the Eagles. Under his command, he went on to take home five straight 5A championships, from 1995 to 1999, just before the turn of the century.

Remember, this was before 6A, meaning they were winning the highest possible honor at the high school level. The 1995 and 1996 freshmen were lucky enough to experience a state championship in every year of their high school career, and can call themselves “Four-time state champions”.

That is something almost no one in the country can claim to. Thought Skyline was a powerhouse in the 60s and 70s? Think again. Dupaix revolutionized the idea of dominance at the end of the 20th century.

Today, Skyline has named their field “Roger Dupaix Stadium” after the all-time great coach. Today, Dupaix still works at Skyline as a driver’s education instructor and helps all new drivers earn their licenses.

After Dupaix stopped coaching, Skyline struggled to be as elite as they used to be. However, Skyline was able to go on a magical postseason run once again in 2005.

The team was ranked fourth in the region, but that is just not how Skyline football works, for the Eagles, got hot at the right time to win four straight games to win Skyline’s 14th State title.