Region 10 football: Cedar, Dixie earn first wins; Pine View stays unbeaten

ST. GEORGE — In the third and final week of preseason play, six Region 10 teams played at home, with Cedar coming from behind to defeat in-town rival Canyon View and Dixie picking up its first win of the year at home against Palm Desert, California.

Meanwhile, Pine View stayed undefeated with a convincing win over Park City. However, Desert Hills, Crimson Cliffs and Hurricane all lost at their home stadiums while Snow Canyon, Region 10’s lone team playing on the road, fell at Ridgeline.

Here’s a recap of Week 3’s action:

Cedar 27, Canyon View 20 (OT)

At Canyon View, the Cedar Reds made a remarkable comeback late in the game to defeat their crosstown rivals in overtime, 27-20.

Cedar got the ball first to start the game, but was forced to punt after a quick three-and-out. On fourth down, the long snap got past the punter and Canyon View recovered deep in Cedar territory. 

Cedar football players hoist pickax trophy after beating rival Canyon View 27-20 at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah. Aug. 27, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

A few plays later, the Falcons scored on an 11-yard TD pass from Jake Garrett to Taylor Barney. Kicker Gavin Barlow added the extra point to give Canyon View a 7-0 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, the Reds managed to tackle Canyon View’s punter for a loss on fourth down, taking over at the Falcons’ 19-yard line. However, the Reds ended up settling for a 34-yard field goal by Edgar Hernandez-Hinojosa to make it 7-3 with 5:14 left in the first quarter.

Neither team scored during the remainder of the first half, which largely consisted of punting the ball back and forth at the end of stalled drives. Canyon View did make a crucial stop at the end of the second quarter, as Cedar threatened to get close to the end zone. Cedar’s pass was picked off near the goal line by defender Jacob McIntosh with just over a minute left, and the Falcons were able to run out the rest of the clock and take a 7-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Canyon View got the jump on the Reds at the start of the third quarter, with Barney hauling in a pass up the middle and taking it 72 yards into the end zone for his second receiving TD. After Cedar’s next drive proved unfruitful, Canyon View immediately marched downfield again, capping off the drive with a 6-yard TD run by Adrian Ward. The PAT kick failed that time, leaving Canyon View with a 20-3 lead midway through the third quarter.

A few minutes later, Cedar was punting yet again when a miscue turned the tide for the Reds. Canyon View called for a fair catch on the punt but didn’t catch the ball, with Cedar pouncing on it inside the 10-yard line, putting the Reds in excellent scoring position. Three plays later, sophomore QB Koden Lunt found Kas’n Crandall at the goal line for an 11-yard TD reception, and the Reds trailed 20-10 at the end of three.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, Tel Hirschi caught a 64-yard TD pass from Lunt, capping off a 99-yard drive and narrowing Cedar’s deficit to just three points, 20-17. 

A few minutes later, Cedar managed to advance the ball inside Canyon View’s 10-yard line, thanks to a pair of nice runs. However, Canyon View pushed the Reds back on successive plays, forcing them to settle for a field-goal try with 2:51 left. Hernandez-Hinojosa then booted the 33-yarder through the uprights, tying the score 20-20.

Cedar football at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah. Aug. 27, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Canyon View’s next drive got the Falcons to midfield, only to fizzle out thanks to a run for loss, a sack and an incomplete long pass. The Falcons punted it away to Cedar on fourth-and-19 with 1:29 left. 

Cedar managed to get back within field goal range, thanks to a nice catch by Braxton Torres, who was tackled at the Canyon View 25-yard line. With the final minute of regulation time ticking away, Cedar ran a couple running plays, then spiked the ball to stop the clock. With four seconds left, Hernandez-Hinojosa attempted yet another field goal from about the same distance as the two he’d converted earlier. However, this attempt went wide left as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

Cedar got the ball first to start the overtime, and moved the ball effectively, capping off the 25-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run by Ryan Hill. The PAT kick was good, giving Cedar a 27-20 lead and capping off a streak of 24 unanswered points. 

Canyon View then had a chance to match or beat Cedar’s OT score, but the Reds stifled the Falcons on four successive plays, thereby ending the game.

“Our kids decided they wanted to play in the fourth quarter,” Cedar head coach Josh Bennett said after the game. “That says a lot about our coaches being able to make the adjustments necessary, and our offensive line being able to establish control of the line of scrimmage, which was a big key.”

“I tip my hat to Canyon View,” Bennett added. “They came ready to play tonight. They played three quarters and we played one quarter, but we played a great fourth quarter.”

“When we got that first touchdown, you could feel the momentum start to shift a little bit, and our defense stepped up. I’m proud of our guys and our coaches. We showed a lot of character and determination to come back and win this game.”

Cedar, which improved to 1-2 in preseason play with the win, opens its regular season schedule at Snow Canyon next Friday.

— written by Jeff Richards

Pine View 49, Park City 35

The Panthers (3-0) got a breakout game from junior quarterback Sawyer Woods and the defense did just enough to win a high-scoring affair.

Pine View Panthers in a non-region football game against Park City, Aug. 27, 2021 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Woods completed 22 of 39 passes for 446 yards and five touchdowns. Three of those went to speedster Dominique McKenzie, who hauled in touchdown passes of 75, 45 and 10 yards.

Marcus McKenzie caught a 52-yard touchdown pass and Turner Williams grabbed a 72-yard scoring strike.

Running back Keith Adams continued his strong start to the season for Pine View, rushing for touchdowns of 20 and 6 yards.

Senior kicker Austin Kogan went 7-for-7 on extra point kicks in the Panthers big win.

Dixie 23, Palm Desert, Calif. 6

The Flyers (1-2) picked up their first win in their opening home game against the visiting Aztecs.

Junior fullback Seth Takau had a big night for Dixie, rushing for touchdowns of 2 and 55 yards in the victory.

The Flyers defense produced a safety in the third quarter, and Bode Ray’s 11-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter completed the scoring for the victors.

Spanish Fork 35, Desert Hills 20

The Thunder (2-1) established a 20-14 lead at halftime, but then the home team was shutout and the visiting Dons roared back with three second-half touchdowns to come away with the win.

Desert Hills Thunder against Spanish Fork in a non-region football game, Aug. 27, 2021 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Desert Hills starting quarterback Noah Fuailetolo, under relentless pressure all game, was shaken up about midway through the third quarter and did not return. Backup signal caller Beau Wall threw two late interceptions as Spanish Fork pulled away.

Thunder head coach Rick Berry lost his first game with his new team and told St. George News afterward that it all came down to execution.

“You got to come out and execute, and we talked about that at half,” Berry said. “We just made too many mental mistakes, mistakes we shouldn’t have at this time of the year. Give a hats off to Spanish Fork. We didn’t match their intensity at all.” 

The Dons seized the momentum and didn’t let it go with a 97-yard touchdown toss from Austin Stevenson to Cade Olsen early in the third quarter.

“It’s one game. That’s why you have a rearview mirror,” Berry said. “You put it behind you, you learn from it and you move forward.”

Desert Hills led 17-0 after one quarter when Fuailetolo threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Awsten Turnbow, Lincoln Holmes ran for a 19-yard score and Jagger Shotwell kicked a 22-yard field goal. 

Timpview 30, Crimson Cliffs 25

The Mustangs (1-2) played tough defense and utilized their outstanding kicker to take a 25-23 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the visiting Thunderbirds scored the winning touchdown with 28 seconds left in the contest.

Crimson Cliffs senior kicker Ryan Woolley had a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter, then made field goal kicks of  51, 25 and 27 yards in the second half for the Mustangs.

Easton Droubay ran for a 4-yard touchdown and Conner Kell, filling in for injured starting quarterback Chase Hansen, ran for a 40-yard score in the tough loss for the home team. 

All three Crimson Cliffs games so far this year have gone down to the wire and have been hard-fought battles.

Timpanogos 64, Hurricane 34

The Tigers (2-1) fell for the first time of the season when the visiting Timberwolves exploded for 64 points after three quarters of play.

Quarterback Carter Ashby ran for two Hurricane touchdowns and threw for two more, connecting with RJ Wright and Jace Meachem. Ashton Williams had a 38-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.

Quarterback Matu Holdaway was a one man wrecking force for Timpanogos, tossing six touchdowns through the air and running for two more in the big win.

Ridgeline 42, Snow Canyon 7

At Ridgeline, Snow Canyon’s Hunter Johnson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Will Warner to tie the score 7-7 in the first quarter, but it was all Riverhawks after that.

The Warriors (2-1) surrendered 262 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Ridgeline running back Noah White, and quarterback Kaden Cox threw for 148 yards and four scores in a dominant home win.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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