Region 9 football recap: Canyon View, Snow Canyon stay unbeaten

CEDAR CITY — Canyon View was the only Region 9 team playing at home Friday night, as the Falcons took on Enterprise. Despite falling behind in the opening minutes, Canyon View went on to score 41 unanswered points and defeat the Wolves, 41-6.

The Falcons, who are off to a 3-0 season start for only the second time in school history, will face a tough test next week as they open their Region 9 regular season schedule at Snow Canyon. The Warriors won on the road Friday night, as did both Cedar and Pine View. However, Dixie, Hurricane and Desert Hills all lost. Following are recaps of each of Friday night’s games involving Region 9 teams:

Canyon View 41, Enterprise 6

For the third week in a row, the Canyon View football team played at home in Cedar City, and for the third straight time, the Falcons came away with a convincing win, this time over the Enterprise Wolves.

After receiving the opening kickoff, Enterprise started off the game by driving the length of the field and scoring. Tyler Hiatt’s 1-yard run gave the Wolves an early 6-0 lead.

Enterprise at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Canyon View responded with a lengthy drive of their own, capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jake Garrett to Tyler Maine, with the extra-point kick by Gavin Barlow putting the Falcons ahead 7-6. 

A few minutes later, Garrett connected with Maine again in the end zone, putting Canyon View up 14-6. 

The Falcons scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter, all on passes from Garrett. He connected with Kody Callison for a 25-yard score and Michael McCallister from 17 yards out before finding Maine one more time, from 8 yards out, as Canyon View built a 34-6 halftime lead.

Neither team was able to move the ball much during the second half, which was filled with penalties and punts.

Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, but Canyon View did manage to score one more TD early in the fourth quarter, when Gunner Hatch ran the ball into the end zone from 14 yards out to account for the final score of 41-6.

“We played better tonight than we have the other two games,” Canyon View head coach Chris Sawyers said after the game. “Obviously, we’ve got to clean some penalties up. We had a few really stupid penalties with our mouth and some things like that. We’ll get those things fixed on Monday, but I’m proud of our kids.”

Sawyers singled out the play of senior Kyson Parker, a 6 foot, 3 inch 270-pound lineman, noting that the offensive line is critical to ensuring the quarterback has time and room to find his receivers.

“He’s as good a leader as I’ve had in a long time,” Sawyers said. “He’s going to go play somewhere next year, somewhere great. I mean, he’s an unbelievable person. He’s a big, strong individual. Not only does he lead with his mouth, but he leads by example.”

Sawyers said he was proud of the Falcon defense for holding tough after allowing Enterprise to score on its first possession.

“We gave up a touchdown on the first series and then didn’t give up another one the rest of the game, even when I put the young kids in,” he said. “I’m proud of them.”

Enterprise at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Sawyers said his players confidence is high heading into region play next week.

“They’ve bought into what we’re selling, and they’re seeing the results. They’re seeing what what can happen if they do it the way they’re supposed to.”

The Falcons will go on the road Friday to face 2-0 Snow Canyon in the Region 9 season opener.

Cedar 51, Taylorsville 19

At Taylorsville, the Cedar Reds bounced back from last week’s home loss to Juab by posting a convincing 51-19 win over the Taylorsville Warriors.

Cedar scored four TDs in the first quarter, including two passes from quarterback Jaron Garrett to receiver Jack Cook. Late in the quarter, Braxton Torres ran back an interception 25 yards for another score.

In the second quarter, Cedar kicked a field goal. A few minutes later, Garrett ran for a 1-yard touchdown, putting the Reds ahead 37-0.

Taylorsville finally got on the board with a 24-yard run, but Cedar’s Trey Payne caught a short TD pass right before halftime that gave the Reds a 44-7 lead at the break.

Cedar’s only score of the second half was a TD catch by Torres in the fourth quarter, but it proved to be more than enough.

Cedar, which improved to 2-1 in preseason play, will open its Region 9 schedule Friday at Crimson Cliffs. The Mustangs had a bye this week.

Spanish Fork 28, Desert Hills 26

At Spanish Fork, the Desert Hills Thunder were ahead of the Dons 18-14 heading into the fourth quarter but were outscored 14-8 over the final 12 minutes.

The Dons went up by 10 with five minutes to play, 28-18, but Desert Hills got a 7-yard scoring run from Connor Ashby with just over 1:30 left in the game. It was Ashby’s third TD of the night. Desert Hills, which had missed two PAT kicks and failed in a 2-point conversion attempt earlier, managed to get the 2-point conversion at the end to get within two points, 28-26. However, the Dons were able to hang on to the ball as they ran out the clock to end the game.

Desert Hills (1-2) next hosts Pine View in the Region 9 season opener Friday at 7 p.m.

Snow Canyon 24, Morgan 13

At Morgan, the Trojans got the first score of the game to go up 6-0 early on, but the Warriors rallied for 24 consecutive points in the second quarter to take a 24-6 halftime lead.

After kicker Jacob Wittwer got the Warriors on the board with a field goal, quarterback Landon Frei threw three TD passes, with Jake Hill catching two and Braxton Hickman catching one. Although the Warriors did not score again the rest of the game, Snow Canyon’s defense held Morgan to a single TD in the second half, thereby locking up the road win. 

Snow Canyon (2-0) will host Canyon View (3-0) Friday at 7 p.m.

Mountain Ridge 45, Hurricane 6

After a big come-from-behind win against Murray last week, the Hurricane Tigers suffered a 45-6 blowout loss to Mountain Ridge at Herriman. Hurricane’s only score was a 10-yard TD run by Conner Nielson near the end of the first quarter. 

Hurricane (1-2) will host Dixie in the Region 9 season opener Friday.

Pine View 41, Park City 40

In a wild game at Park City, Pine View took a 27-7 halftime lead, only to see the Miners rally back to go ahead late in the fourth.

The Panthers were down 34-33 with under 2 1/2 minutes left when Pine View’s Enoch Takau scored on a 1-yard run. The Panthers then went for the 2-point conversion and got it, on a pass from Brayden Bunnell, to go ahead 41-34.

Park City’s Kirby Baynes then ran the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards for a TD, pulling the Miners back within one point, 41-40. However, the PAT kick attempt missed, and the Panthers escaped with the narrow road win.

Takau ended up with three TDs on the night, while teammate Preston Mann caught two TD passes.

Pine View (2-1) opens Region 9 play Friday at Desert Hills.

Mountain View 21, Dixie 20

For the second straight week, the Dixie Flyers lost a close game on the road despite being ahead late in the game.

At Mountain View in Orem, Dixie led 17-14 at halftime. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Flyers’ Rene Bernal kicked his second field goal of the game during the fourth quarter to put Dixie ahead by six points, 20-14. However, the Bruins managed to score a late touchdown and kick the PAT to secure the win. 

Dixie QB Bronson Barben threw for two touchdowns in the losing effort: one to Shea Anderson and one to Joshua Barney.

Dixie (0-3) will next face Region 9 rival Hurricane (1-2) on the road Friday at 7 p.m.

St. George News reporter Ryne Williams contributed to this report.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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