It was quite a night in the 3AA South Region, with a huge upset, a critical road win and a big offensive show.

The talk of the town was Dixie’s upset of Desert Hills. The Flyers defense, which had been allowing 42 points a game through six games this season, played inspired football, forcing two turnovers and stopping Desert Hills on three fourth-down conversion attempts.

Meanwhile, Hurricane traveled west to Snow Canyon and came away with an eight-point win in another defensive battle. The Tigers emerge from the night all alone in first place after the DH loss at 4-0 in region play.

At Pine View, the Panthers and Cedar Redmen combined for 70 points and nearly 900 yards of offense in the 22-point PV victory. The Panthers host Hurricane next week with first place on the line.

St. George News writers Andy Griffin and Darren Cole, photographers Robert Hoppie and Dave Amodt and videographers Dallas Griffin and Samantha Tommer hustled around St. George to bring us this breakdown of Week 7’s hot action in the 3AA South Region. Here’s what we saw:

Dixie 17, Desert Hills 16
Written by Darren Cole

ST. GEORGE — The lead was as slim as could be. Just as it had all night, the Dixie defense bent a little, allowing the Thunder from Desert Hills to get one first down on its last drive. But then the Flyers stiffened, stopping Thunder quarterback Nick Warmsley on successive runs. With just under two minutes to go, Warmsley dropped back and threw to his receiver running a middle seam route. The ball was tipped by either Dixie’s cornerback or the Thunder receiver or both, into the waiting hands of Flyer free safety R.J. Wilgar.

“I saw the play develop,” said Wilgar.  “I was coming up to assist on the tackle when the ball was tipped. It surprised me and I actually juggled it before gaining control.”

In a defensively dominated game, it was the Flyers who prevailed over No. 1-ranked Desert Hills and its highly-touted defense.

The Dixie defense held Desert Hills to 238 total yards and only 11 first downs. “We have had trouble all year while the offense has carried us. It was nice to return the favor for once,” said WIlgar. “Everyone knows they play great defense. But they have playmakers on offense, too. We knew the key would be stopping their rushing attack.”

The Flyers, who have averaged over 35 points per game with Ammon Takau behind center, could only muster 17 points. But seven of those came in the final stanza after Desert HIlls had taken a six-point lead.

Dixie entered the fourth quarter holding onto a slim 10-7 advantage. On the first play of the quarter, the advantage got slimmer when Takau was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

After the free kick, Desert Hills took advantage of great field position and quickly scored to go up 15-10.  An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after scoring the touchdown would prove costly. Coach Carl Franke’s options became limited and Desert Hills settled for a 40-yard PAT kick from Christian Cottle, making it 16-10 with 10:06 left in the game.

Dixie did not let the Thunder lead stand for long, scoring on its next possession.  Tre Miller’s 41-yard run would set up Takau’s second rushing touchdown of the game with 7:35 to play. The PAT from McLane Keenan put the Flyers up 17-16.

The Dixie defense would then have to hold and stop Desert Hills on its last two possessions to seal the win.

Dixie opened the scoring for the game with a Keenan 27-yard field goal halfway through the first quarter.  Desert Hills immediately answered with a hurry-up offense.  Three successive Bridger Cowdin runs netted 69 yards.  Cody Ricketts would end the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.  In less than 45 seconds of playing time, the Thunder had gained the lead 7-3 with 6:13 remaining in the first.

Takau would score Dixie’s first touchdown in the second quarter with a 5-yard run.  The Flyers would take their 10-7 lead into halftime.

“We saw some reads with their defensive tackles,” said Miller.  “Our play calling depended on their alignment.  We ended up running more than usual.”

The third quarter would be a back and forth chess game of field position ending with the Flyers pinned deep to start the fourth quarter.  That led to the Thunder sack and safety of Takau.

Penalties continue to plague Desert Hills as they were flagged 20 times costing them 190 yards.  Five of those penalties led to Flyer first downs.

The Thunder’s Bridger Cowdin led all rushers with 121 yards on 16 carries.  Warmsley added 59 yards.  For Dixie, Miller gained 93 yards on 18 carries.  Takau added 85 yards on 16 carries.

Desert Hills falls to 6-1 (3-1) and will travel to Tooele Thursday for a non-region matchup.  Dixie moves to 3-4 with its first win in region (1-2).  The Flyers will travel to Payson on Thursday.

Stats: Dixie 17, Desert Hills 16
Related post: STGNews gamenight quickblast: Dixie 17, Desert Hills 16

 Highlights produced by Samantha Tommer

Pine View 46, Cedar 24
Written by Andy Griffin

The life of a defensive back can be like a roller coaster. Pine View’s Colton Miller can testify of that firsthand.

A couple of times against Cedar Friday night, Miller got sucked into playing the run on a play-action pass, resulting in big plays for the Redmen and a chewing out by his coach. But the Panther senior more than made up for his couple of oversights, picking off two Cedar passes and scoring a touchdown on offense in PV’s 22-point win.

“I messed up a lot and there are things I still need to work on,” Miller said. “Cedar’s always that hard competition that grounds and pounds and it felt good that we were able to stop it and set up our offense for good drives. We’re just a great team and I have faith in all of our guys.”

Miller and his defensive teammates stopped Cedar cold in the first quarter, allowing just a couple of first downs while the Panthers offense was scoring on three straight long drives to build a 20-0 lead.

“You can tell a lot about a team after a loss, how they come back, how they practice,” PV coach Ray Hosner said. “We came out in practice and picked up the tempo a lot and they executed well at a high, fast pace. Every time (Cedar) scored, our guys answered with big plays.”

Even with the big lead (on TDs by Jaden Peterson, Pano Tiatia and Blake Ence), Pine View couldn’t let up against a resilient Cedar team.

“As long as you have Coach Peacock and Coach Lee there, Cedar’s going to be a great football team,” Hosner said. “They battle over there.”

The Redmen battled back to 20-7 on a 29-yard Austin Obering TD run to make it 20-7 with 5:00 left in the first half. Pine View matched that TD with a second TD by Tiatia to make it 26-7.

“It was really important for us to play well, especially coming off that loss last week,” Tiatia said. “We wanted to come back a lot stronger and a lot more focused. Getting this win will set the tone for us the rest of the season.”

Cedar cut it to 26-10 at the half on an impressive 43-yard field goal by Jeff Rogers, but the Panthers marched 87 yards in eight plays to push the lead to 32-10. Bladen Hosner caught a 56-yard pass from Kody Wilstead in the drive and Peterson dove in from a yard out for the TD.

With 3:16 left in the third, Cedar again cut the lead down when Mason Fakahua hit Obering with a 39-yard TD pass with Miller losing the receiver on the play action, making it 32-17.

Pine View’s Blake Ence, who had a fantastic day with 5 catches for 142 yards and a TD, plus an interception, forced a fumble that set the Panthers up with a short field at the Cedar 24 in the last minute of the third quarter. Two plays later, Miller got some measure of revenge by catching a 15-yard TD in the left corner from Wilstead, making it 39-17 with 11:10 left in the game.

Cedar cut it to 39-24 on a short dive by Dallin Grover with 5:37 to play. On the ensuing kickoff, with Pine View’s hands team on in anticipation of an onside kick, Bladen Hosner took the surprising deep kick, eluded several would-be tacklers and returned the kick 81 yards to the Cedar 9. Two plays later, Wilstead hit tight end Steve Bangerter for an 8-yard TD to cap the scoring.

“We needed that kick return,” Ray Hosner said. “He just got some space. Blake Ence made a beautiful block for him on the edge, sealing it. He just used some shifts and made it happen.”

Pine View is now set up to make a run at the region title with the Desert Hills loss. If the Panthers, 5-2 overall and 3-1 in region, can beat Hurricane at Panther Stadium next week, there would be a three-way tie for first place. Hurricane and Desert Hills meet in the last regular season game of the year.

Cedar, picked by some to finish as high as third place in the preseason, falls to 3-3 overall, but just 0-3 in region play. The Redmen have played all three top teams and close the season with Snow Canyon, Dixie and Payson. The Warriors visit Cedar Stadium next Thursday night.

Stats: Pine View 46, Cedar 24
Related post: STGNews gamenight quickblast: Pine View 46, Cedar 24

Highlights produced by Dallas Griffin

Hurricane 21, Snow Canyon 13
Written by Andy Griffin

ST. GEORGE — In a game Hurricane Coach Steve Pearson said was as ugly as one of Cinderella’s step-sisters, the Tigers prevailed with their tried and true method of controlling the clock and playing tough defense.

“In the standings, they have columns for Ws and they have columns for Ls. There is no U column for ugly wins,” Pearson said. “It was not a thing of beauty. They schemed us really well and tried to take away a lot of the things we like to do. But we just kind of muddled through.”

Hurricane held Snow Canyon to just 253 yards and forced five punts and two turnovers.

The Tigers led 21-6 with five minutes left in the game when a bad punt snap gave the Warriors the ball at the Hurricane 7-yard line. The next play, Sam Sliver trimmed the lead down to 21-13 on a run over the left side, making it an eight-point game with 4:56 remaining on the clock.

With that much time left, Snow Canyon kicked the ball deep, hoping for a defensive stop that would never come. The Tigers ran the ball on 11 straight plays, moving it from their own 20 to the Snow Canyon 28, but more importantly, chewing up the game clock — and the SC timeouts — to hold onto the win. Jeremiah Ieremia had seven carries for 43 yards on the final drive for HHS.

“When Ieremia is ready to go — and he was really ready to go on that last drive — than he’s pretty tough to stop,” Pearson said. “We hadn’t used him much on offense in the game until that last drive. He was fresh and ready.”

The first quarter saw both teams have two possessions and all four offensive sets ended in punts. Speedy Nick McDaniel took a pitch on the first play of the second quarter and broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, made on move in the secondary, then sprinted the rest of the 78 yards for the only score of the first half.

The Warriors opened the second half with a decent drive into Hurricane territory, but Ieremia turned the momentum when he stepped in fron of a Jacob Frei pass at the Hurricane 37 and returned all the way to the Warriors 5-yard line. The big guy then took the next play into the end zone with a dive through the middle of the SC defense, making it 14-0 with 8:10 to go in the third.

After an exchange of punts, Snow Canyon finally got on the board with a 60-yard drive that made it 14-6 after the missed extra point. TJ Taimi caught a 10-yarder from Frei for the score, with Britton Shipp carrying for 30 of the 60 yards.

Hurricane answered right back with a 67-yard TD drive. Tyson Yardley had runs of 31, 18 and 7 yards in the drive and Ieremia carried it in from 11 yards to make it 21-6 with 1:01 left in the third.

The Tigers had two 100-yard rushers in the game. Yardley finished with 119 yards on 16 carries and McDaniel had 111 on six attempts. Ieremia rushed for 64 as Hurricane had 333 yards on the ground. The Tigers attempted just five passes, completing just one for six yards.

Snow Canyon’s Taimi was excellent in the passing game, catching nine Frei passes for 152 yards and a score. But SC’s running game was anemic for the second straight game, gaining just 64 yards on 26 carries (2.4 ypc).

The Tigers, now 5-2 overall and 4-0 in region play, have clinched a home playoff game in either the first or second round with the win and hope for a bye week the first round of the playoffs.

“That’s a really big deal for this program and this community,” Pearson said. “This community loves home playoff games. It’s a magical time in late October and early November.”

Snow Canyon, which fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in region play, has two straight road games coming up. The Warriors visit Cedar next Thursday and then Desert Hills the following Wednesday.

Hurricane, which has won four straight, plays at Pine View next Thursday. The Tigers lost twice to the Panthers last season, 34-31 in the regular season and 63-28 in the state quarterfinals.

Stats: Hurricane 21, Snow Canyon 13
Related post: STGNews gamenight quickblast: Hurricane 21, Snow Canyon 13

Other scores of interest:

Juan Diego 35, Uintah 28, Final
Park City 45, Ben Lomond 26, Final
Stansbury 42, Tooele 21, Final
Bear River 17, Payson 10, Final (OT)
Canyon View 35, Delta 34, Final

3AA Standings

3AA North	W	L	PS	PA	pct.	W	L	PS	PA	pct.
Stansbury	4	0	206	87	1.000	6	1	274	140	.857
Juan Diego	4	0	144	87	1.000	4	3	189	207	.571
Tooele	2	2	125	109	.500	5	2	229	150	.714
Uintah	1	2	68	101	.333	3	4	177	222	.429
Park City	1	2	75	95	.333	2	5	143	195	.286
Ben Lomond	0	3	66	136	.000	1	6	172	287	.143
Bear River	0	3	63	132	.000	1	6	135	253	.143

3AA South	W	L	PS	PA	pct.	W	L	PS	PA	pct.
Hurricane	4	0	113	54	1.000	5	2	169	113	.714
Pine View	3	1	168	123	.750	5	2	267	155	.714
Desert Hills	3	1	150	52	.750	6	1	255	79	.857
Snow Canyon	1	2	57	86	.333	3	4	154	207	.429
Dixie	1	2	67	92	.333	3	4	229	269	.429
Payson	0	3	33	115	.000	0	7	68	221	.000
Cedar	0	3	38	104	.000	3	3	131	146	.500

 

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