ST. GEORGE — With the UHSAA football season starting on Friday, St. George News compiled a list of some players to look out for as well some other information regarding the upcoming football season.
As far as the Region 9 season, the favorite this year is Snow Canyon. The Warriors are returning a large majority of their roster from last season including Landon Frei, Bretton Stone and Braxton Hickman to name a few. According to the coaches poll collected at 97.7 ESPN’s Region 9 media day, the coaches agreed that the Warriors are the favorite. They finished with seven total first place votes.
“It’s always a pleasure to be ranked highly in the preseason,” returning quarterback Landon Frei said about being ranked in the top 25 for the state of Utah. “Last year we had a good run in the playoffs, so we just have to try and do that again this year.”
Following Snow Canyon in the coaches poll were Pine View, Dixie and Cedar to round out the top half of the region.
The coaches also selected Pine View’s Enoch Takau as the preseason player of the year. Takau led the 2019 Region 9 champions in rushing yards per game and established himself as a dominant running back for the Panthers in an undefeated region season.
While the Panthers lost some of their core players after their Region 9 championship season, head coach Raymond hosner spoke about players stepping up after the loss of key players.
“You’ve got guys that watched last year and they’re like, ‘Hey, it’s my time. I’m going to make some plays,’” Hosner told St. George News. “These kids, they saw what was taking place last year and now they want to be able to get some picks, they want to make some hits and they want to make some big plays.”
For the Dixie Flyers, Hunter Knighton, Alex Maycock and Keilen Washington will all be back. Similar to Pine View, Dixie had a talented graduating class and they will be looking to fill those shoes as well.
With regards to the football season as a whole, there will be new regulations and guidelines set out by not only the state but each school. These guidelines aim to limit the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the student athlete’s safety. While the season may not have the same feel as last year, plans are in place with the hope that the athletes can play out the season and stay safe.
Here are some other players to be on the lookout for this football season:
Snow Canyon
Landon Frei, Bretton Ston and Braxton Hickman
Pine View
Enoch Takau, Brennan Shaw and Dominique Mckenzie
Dixie
Alex Maycock, Keilen Washington and Hunter Knighton
Cedar
Jaron Garret, Trey Payne and Kolbee White
Desert Hills
Ethan Ford, Cy Nunley and Jake Warner
Crimson Cliffs
Zach Andrus, Chase Hansen and Creed Leonard
Hurricane
Bubba Moore, Luke Wright and Caleb Mclaws
Canyon View
Jake Tom, Ethan Rigtrup and Tyler Maine
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.