With all the marquee high school football games on tap, the upcoming Week 9 of the high school football season should be renamed “Championship Week.”

Of the 16 high school football regions in Utah, only four have two undefeated teams remaining — and as luck would have it, the top two teams in each of those regions square off this week.

On Thursday, Bingham hosts Jordan in a Region 3 tilt while Springville travels to Salem Hills in Region 8.

On Friday, the Region 6 title will be up for grabs when East visits Highland in one of the most heated rivalries in Utah. And in 1A, Kanab plays at Diamond Ranch in a rematch of last year’s 1A title game.

In the larger school matchups, there’s a clear-cut favorite in all three — to be expected with a pair of nationally ranked teams.

Bingham is ranked No. 1 in Utah, and this week checks in at No. 19 nationally in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings with a dominant offense and defense.

Jordan, meanwhile, has a solid offense but also a knack for giving up a lot of points. It’s unlikely the ’Diggers can prevail in a defensive battle, but beating Bingham in a track meet hasn’t worked lately either. In the past three years, Bingham has beat Jordan by scores of 56-42, 58-41 and 48-27.

East, No. 2 in the Deseret News rankings, checks in at No. 24 nationally, according to MaxPreps. You can bet Highland doesn’t care one iota about the rankings.

The confident Rams always believe they can stand toe-to-toe with their neighboring rivals, and rankings don’t change that belief.

“We’ve been playing this game a long time, they know what we do, we know what they do. It’s about being tough and being physical, you’ve got to try and outlast their intensity,” said Highland coach Brody Benson.

East has won four of the past five meetings with Highland.

In Region 8, Springville owns a 5-0 region record while Salem Hills comes into the game with a 4-0 mark. Springville’s potent offense gives it a leg up heading into the game.

Against common region opponents, Springville (8-0) is winning by an average margin of 33.5 ppg while Salem Hills (6-2) is winning by 12.5 ppg.

Salem Hills has actually won two of the past three meetings, but Springville won last year’s Week 9 game 35-16 to wrap up an undefeated regular season — something it will try and do again on Thursday.

The 1A South showdown between Kanab and Diamond Ranch is very intriguing.

Diamond Ranch has won four straight against Kanab, winning in the regular season and playoffs the past two season. Top-ranked Kanab, however, seems to be the more complete team this season. It beat Duchesne 13-0 back in September while Diamond Ranch lost to Duchesne the week earlier 41-13.

James Edward is the Deseret News prep editor and Real Salt Lake beat writer. EMAIL:[email protected]