Region 9 football recap: Pine View ends regular season unbeaten; Snow Canyon, Dixie, Desert Hills also win

ST. GEORGE — The Pine View Panthers clinched the Region 9 football title with a 42-0 home win over Hurricane Wednesday night, ending the regular season with their seventh region win in as many games and their ninth straight victory overall. 

Meanwhile, the region’s second- and third-place teams, Snow Canyon and Dixie, respectively, rolled to convincing road wins at Cedar City, with the Warriors defeating Cedar and Dixie besting Canyon View. 

The only close game of the night was at Desert Hills, where the Thunder overcame a halftime deficit to score the go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter and defeat Crimson Cliffs 14-10.

Following are recaps of each of Wednesday’s Region 9 games, followed by the final standings chart. There ended up not being any ties in the standings, as each of the eight teams in the region finished the regular season with a different number of wins. Note that the current statewide RPI rankings are hidden from view on the Utah High School Activities Association, in anticipation of the bracket reveal scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m.

Snow Canyon 35, Cedar 7

Snow Canyon at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 14, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Cedar, the Snow Canyon Warriors came out strong and stayed comfortably ahead in an eventual 35-7 win over the Reds. 

Snow Canyon posted a 21-0 halftime lead, thanks to two touchdown runs by quarterback Landon Frei, followed by a 68-yard TD pass from Frei to Jordan Wade just before the second quarter ended. 

Then, during the third quarter, Tyden Morris added a 1-yard TD run for the Warriors. Later in the third, the Warriors capped off their final scoring drive with another 1-yard run by Frei to make it 35-0. 

Cedar’s only score of the game came on a 35-yard pass from Jaron Garrett to Charlie Cook early in the fourth quarter.

Snow Canyon was able to use up much of the clock during the fourth quarter, although Cedar did make one more sustained drive that ended in a turnover. 

“We came ready to play,” Morris said after the game.

“We had a lot of fire tonight, a lot of energy,” agreed teammate Haden Frei, a senior lineman.

The Warriors finished in second place in Region 9 with a 6-1 record, 8-1 overall, with their only loss coming to region champion Pine View. Meanwhile, Cedar ended up in fourth place in the region standings with a 4-3 record in region play, 6-4 overall.

Dixie 48, Canyon View 7

At Canyon View, the Dixie Flyers scored seven TDs as the Flyers rolled to a 48-7 victory over the Falcons.

Dixie at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 14, 2020 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Flyers and the Falcons each punted on their first possession, but Dixie managed to score its next time up the field, on an 8-yard pass from Bronson Barben to Carson Greer. Later in the first quarter, Dixie had an apparent kick return touchdown called back on a penalty, but on the very next play from scrimmage, Barben unleashed a long pass to Shea Anderson, who ran it into the end zone from 66 yards out, putting the Flyers up 14-0.

Early in the second quarter, Barben made yet another TD pass, this one to Derek Kesterson from 20 yards out, putting the Flyers up 21-0.

Later in the second quarter, Canyon View got its only touchdown of the game when Jake Tom intercepted the ball and ran it back a short distance for a pick-six TD, putting the Falcons on the scoreboard, although they still trailed 21-7.

Dixie added one more scoring drive just before halftime, as Shea Anderson ran it in from 4 yards out to put the Flyers up 28-7 at the half.

Dixie went on to score three more TDs in the second half. Barben ended up with four TD passses for the Flyers, who finished the regular season in third place with a 5-2 record, while Canyon View saw its seventh straight loss after going 3-0 in the preseason.

Pine View 42, Hurricane 0

At Pine View, the Panthers closed out their regular season undefeated in region play as they cruised to a 42-0 shutout win over Hurricane. Dominique McKenzie caught three TD passes from quarterback Brayden Bunnell. The Panthers also got touchdown runs from backs Enoch Takau and Doug Leung Choi, each for around 40 yards. Pine View also got a defensive TD when Ian Becker picked up a fumble early in the second quarter and ran it back 39 yards for the score.

Desert Hills 14, Crimson Cliffs 10

At Desert Hills, the Thunder overcame a 10-7 halftime deficit to defeat the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs, 14-10. 

Crimson Cliffs at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Oct. 14, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

Neither team scored in the first quarter, but Desert Hills quarterback Noah Fuailetolo made an 8-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter to put the Thunder up 7-0. Crimson Cliffs then tied the game a couple minutes later on a 70-yard pass from Chase Hansen to Trais Higgins. Kicker Ryan Wooley then added a FG in the closing seconds of the first half to give the Mustangs a 10-7 lead at the break. 

After a scoreless third quarter, Desert Hills receiver Awsten Turnbow scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, on a 36-yard pass from Fuailetolo, putting the Thunder up by four. On their last drive, the Mustangs were looking for a TD to regain the lead, but Jake Wilkins made a game-clinching interception, and the Thunder were able to run out the clock from there. 

Desert Hills improved to 3-4 on the season with its second straight win and third in its last four games. The Thunder jumped ahead a spot in the region standings to fifth place, while Crimson Cliffs dropped to sixth with the loss. 

Region 9 football standings, as of Oct. 15 (region record, overall)

  1. Pine View 7-0 (9-1) 
  2. Snow Canyon 6-1 (8-1) 
  3. Dixie 5-2 (5-5) 
  4. Cedar 4-3 (6-4) 
  5. Desert Hills 3-4 (4-6) 
  6. Crimson Cliffs 2-5 (3-6) 
  7. Hurricane 1-6 (2-8)
  8. Canyon View 0-7 (3-7)

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

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