Region 10 football: Pine View, Desert Hills, Snow Canyon roll over region foes

ST. GEORGE — The three games on Friday night’s Region 10 slate all ended up being fairly one-sided contests, with Pine View winning big at Cedar, Desert Hills rolling past Dixie at home and Snow Canyon overpowering the Tigers at Hurricane.

Meanwhile, Crimson Cliffs played Cyprus in a non-region contest that was somewhat closer, yet the Mustangs still ended up winning by two touchdowns. Following are recaps of each of the games:

Desert Hills 40, Dixie 24

It’s pretty much a guaranteed fact that if you turn over the football eight times in one game, you’re going to lose.

Dixie football at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Sept. 17, 2021 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

That was indeed the case Friday night at Desert Hills as the Thunder defense forced eight turnovers from Dixie and rolled to a 40-24 victory.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle that saw each team score two touchdowns and a field goal.

Desert Hills scored on the second play of the game, a 75-yard touchdown pass from Noah Fuailetolo to Eric Olsen.

Dixie responded with a 35-yard field goal by Jonathan Bibiano Vargas, got the ball back, and Seth Takau threw a 33-yard touchdown to Jakheo Mitchell, putting Dixie briefly ahead 10-7.

Desert Hills marched right back down the field and capped a drive with Tyden Morris running in a 5-yard touchdown. Shayden Scott then kicked a field goal early in the second quarter and Desert Hills led 17-10.

Dixie tied it 17-17 before halftime with Takau’s second touchdown toss to Mitchell, this one from 26 yards out.

Then the second half was all about turnovers. Dixie had a touchdown run in the fourth quarter and held the ball on the final possession of the game.

Every other time Dixie’s offense was on the field in the second half, it either fumbled or threw an interception.

“We challenged our guys all week long and just said, ‘Who’s going to be the most aggressive?’” Desert Hills coach Rick Berry said to St. George News after the game. “We were going to win or lose the game in the trenches, and on turnovers.”

Desert Hills scored four times in the second half, all set up by turnovers. 

“Just working together,” Thunder senior Awsten Turnbow said when asked what was working so well on defense. “That’s legit. What it all comes down to is we wanted it more than them, and it showed.”

The only score in a sluggish third quarter was Fuailetolo’s 30-yard touchdown toss to Lincoln Holmes that put Desert Hills ahead for good.

Scott kicked his second field goal early in the fourth frame, this one a 26-yard boot, and the Thunder led 27-17. 

Morris followed with his second touchdown a little over a minute later, this a 3-yard burst that put Desert Hills ahead 33-24. Izzy Meredith’s 34-yard pick-six rounded out the scoring in the game.

It’s still early in the race for the Region 10 title, but Desert Hills is in the lead for now with a 2-0 record.

“Never satisfied, ever,” Turnbow said. “We got a lot more games to go, so we got to prepare for those. Never be satisfied.”

Pine View 62, Cedar 29

At Cedar, the Reds led 10-7 early in the second quarter but ultimately couldn’t keep up with Pine View’s offense, which scored 20 unanswered points to take a 27-10 halftime lead. Running back Keith Adams accounted for three of Pine View’s four first-half TDs, with scoring runs of 1, 45 and 50 yards. He would later add a 67-yard rushing TD in the second half.

Pine View football at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 17, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cedar got the ball first to start the third quarter, but the Reds’ drive was cut short when Pine View’s Byron Cullison intercepted a long pass thrown by Cedar quarterback Koden Lunt and ran it back more than 50 yards for a touchdown. That score put the Panthers up 34-10, but Cedar answered shortly thereafter when Lunt found Braxtan Torres on a short slant pass, after which Torres made his way to the end zone for a 57-yard TD. That was soon followed by Adams’ fourth and final TD run.

Late in the third, Lunt threw another TD pass, a 5-yarder to Ryan Hill, which cut Pine View’s lead to 41-22. However, Pine View’s Turner Williams ran the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown, pushing the Panthers’ lead back up to 48-22.

Pine View added two more TDs in the fourth, while Cedar added one. The high-scoring game saw a total of 13 touchdowns scored, nine by Pine View and four by Cedar.

The Panthers played the game without two of their star players, twins Dominique and Marcus McKenzie, both of whom were injured during last week’s home loss to Dixie.

Pine View assistant coach Ben Maier said the Panthers rebounded well from last week’s loss.

“We felt like that was one we let slip through our fingers, against a good Dixie team,” Maier said, adding that Pine View head coach Ray Hosner and his staff had worked hard to get the team focused for the game against Cedar.

“There isn’t anybody in this region we can look past,” Maier said. “The boys responded tonight. They wanted to come back and make sure we got a big win.”

Cedar head coach Josh Bennett said even though his team was able to stay with Pine View early in the game, the Panthers were able to swing the momentum in their favor by making big plays.

“We’ve just got to get better and learn from our mistakes,” Bennett added. “The kids played hard and we have a good coaching staff. We’ll come back and figure out how to fix some things.”

— written by Jeff Richards

Snow Canyon 35, Hurricane 13

The Warriors got the win on the road after Will Warner took the opening kickoff back for an 87-yard touchdown.

Snow Canyon football at Hurricane, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 17, 2021| Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Alex Stubbs responded immediately for Hurricane, ripping off an 80-yard touchdown run 13 seconds later, and the game was tied 7-7 early in the first quarter.

But then Snow Canyon would put four unanswered scores on the board.

Devin Jensen had a 4-yard touchdown run and quarterback Hunter Johnson had a 10-yard touchdown scamper, putting Snow Canyon ahead 21-7 after the first quarter.

Then Johnson’s 6-yard rushing touchdown put the visitors ahead 28-7 at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Jensen connected with Jordan Wade on a 15-yard touchdown pass to make the score 35-7.

Hurricane’s Stubbs found the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.

Crimson Cliffs 20, Cyprus 6

The Mustangs scored a touchdown in the second, third and fourth quarters of the game at home to defeat Cyprus.

Gunner Orr threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Kona Crowell, and Orr also ran for a 55-yard score in the win.

Nick Baum’s 30-yard touchdown run capped the scoring for Crimson Cliffs in the non-region victory.

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