ST. GEORGE — Dylan Horsley, a 2023 graduate of Water Canyon High School, has signed to play football for the Ogden Jets, a private junior college football program that competes in the USA Collegiate league, along with the St. George Eagles and a handful of other teams.
Horsley’s announcement on Thursday morning marked the first football signing in Water Canyon High School history, said Dylan’s father and coach Heber Horsley.
“Dylan was part of our inaugural football team (at Water Canyon) and that just so happened to be the first year of eight-man football in the state of Utah as well,” coach Horsley told St. George News via phone after his son’s signing ceremony at the school.
Horsley said that Dylan played only one year of high school football, having previously attended a private school that didn’t have athletic programs.
“He didn’t get recruited because nobody’s going to look at you if you only have one year of high school experience in sports,” Horsley added.
Even so, Dylan Horsley made first-team all-state as a quarterback and is in the record books for several eight-man football records, his father noted.
But it was Dylan’s “life changing” transformation to get into better physical shape that prompted coaches to take a closer look at him, his father added.
“In the last year since graduating, he’s just really focused on himself, physically and athletically,” Heber Horsley said. “He’s lost over 95 pounds.”
During his signing ceremony, Dylan Horsley admitted he had previously been overweight and addicted to sedentary activities like playing video games.
“There was one thing that I’d always wanted, I didn’t know where to start,” he said, adding, “But the most important thing I did was I started educating myself in terms of conditioning, strengthening and training exercise.”
“Fast forward to today, down over 90 pounds, healthy. I’ve got my six-pack,” Dylan Horsley added, noting that if someone would have him two and a half years ago that he’d be at his current weight and signing a letter of intent to play college football, he wouldn’t have believed them.
“I’ve learned so many lessons throughout this journey,” Dylan Horsley added, as he referred to the famous Nike slogan “Just Do It.”
“You should never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it,” he said.
Heber Horsley said Dylan’s initial preference was to stay closer to home and play for the St. George Eagles.
“He’s been working out with the Eagles, but the Eagles just had too many players and they didn’t have enough roster slots to give him an offer. And so he’s signed with the Jets,” Horsley added. “He’s had a year off since school, just to get himself even more prepared.”
Heber Horsley added that while his son’s signing makes him the first Water Canyon football player to take his talents to the collegiate level, one of Dylan’s best friends, Jonathan Timpson, is currently a freshman on the track team at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.
“We’re starting to make some noise here and get our stuff together,” Horsley said of Water Canyon’s athletic programs. “It’s exciting.”
As for Dylan’s academic pursuits, his father said he’s still “a bit undecided.”
“He’s a fantastic videographer, so he’s thinking about that, but he knows it’s kind of a saturated market,” Heber Horsley said. “So he may be looking at AI engineering, possibly. But he’s just going to go get his two years and kind of feel out where his career takes him and then make kind of a real decision on what he wants for his bachelor’s degree.”
Within the past couple months, as the 2023-24 school year draws to a close, a number of other Southern Utah high school athletes have recently signed letters of intent to compete at the collegiate level.
Following are short recaps of recent signings. If any readers are aware of other recent local signings that have not been covered by St. George News, they are invited to submit information and photos via email to sports editor E. George Goold.
Cedar
RaeLee Johnson, who recently led the Cedar Reds to the school’s first state title in girls golf, has signed to play for the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds starting this fall. Johnson signed the paperwork in a lunchtime ceremony at the school on May 21.
On May 13, Cedar lacrosse player Kai Gowen signed to play for Utah Tech University in St. George, while teammate Max Pellet signed to play lacrosse for SUU.
Canyon View
Also signing on May 13 to play lacrosse for SUU was Canyon View midfielder Grayson Breinholt.
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Hurricane
On May 6, Katen Myers of Hurricane signed to play basketball for Yakima Valley College in Washington.
On May 21, Kellan Pledger of Hurricane signed to play football and run track for the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.
Dixie
In a signing ceremony after school on May 21, Dixie soccer player Gunnar Woods signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.
“I decided on Truckee because of the location and the program,” Woods said. “It just left like the right pick for me, as far as meeting the coaches, the players and all the guys at the training session that I got to participate in.”
As previously reported, three Dixie boys basketball players and two girls soccer players signed their respective letters of intent on April 8. Kyle Lemke and Jordan Roberts are headed to Snow College, while teammate Logan Weidauer will play for the Gators at Green River College in Auburn, Washington. Meanwhile, soccer players Hali’a Pelton and Allee Williams will join several other players from Southern Utah in playing soccer for Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colorado.
Snow Canyon
In a joint signing ceremony at Snow Canyon High on May 13, Andelyn Jensen signed to play soccer with Colorado Northwestern Community College and Fetuao Tapasa signed to play volleyball at Gillette Community College in Wyoming.
Crimson Cliffs
As previously reported, Crimson Cliffs held a signing ceremony on April 29, during which eight students’ collegiate commitments were celebrated, namely Sean Felts (Snow College basketball), Kaden Jarvis (SUU band), Darius Strickland (University of La Verne football), Conrad McKinnon (Hesston College baseball), Kinsey Plewe (Gillette College women’s basketball), Hinckley Heaton (Colorado Northwestern Community College men’s soccer), Paisley Hinton (Southern Virginia University women’s soccer) and Lexi Leavitt (Southern Virginia University women’s golf).
Desert Hills
Desert Hills midfielder Dillon Bingham recently signed to play soccer for Colorado Northwestern Community College.
As previously reported, back in mid-April, Thunder basketball star Eli Allred signed a letter of intent to play at Green River College in Auburn, Washington, the same institution where Dixie’s Weidauer is heading.
Pine View
In November, Pine View golfer Alyssa Butterfus signed a letter of intent to play golf for North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene.
Other
Japrix Weaver, a 2020 graduate of Cedar High School who helped the Reds to back-to-back 4A state basketball titles in 2019-20, will be moving up to the D1 level this fall, having recently signed to play for Weber State University in Ogden. Weaver previously played for one year at Snow College and one year at Utah State University-Eastern. She served an 18-month LDS Church mission to Hawaii in between.
Photo Gallery
L-R: Water Canyon High School Principal Steve Showalter, former quarterback Dylan Horsley and parents Hannah and Heber Horsley at Dylan's signing ceremony to play collegiate level football for the Ogden Jets, Hildale, Utah, May 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Water Canyon Athletics, St. George News
Former Water Canyon quarterback Dylan Horsley (left) and his father and coach Heber Horsley, at signing ceremony to play football for the Ogden Jets, Hildale, Utah, May 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Water Canyon Athletics, St. George News
Former Water Canyon quarterback Dylan Horsley is surrounded by his eight siblings during his signing ceremony to play football for the Ogden Jets, Hildale, Utah, May 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Water Canyon Athletics, St. George News
Cedar High senior RaeLee Johnson is flanked by her parents/coaches Laycee and Ryan Johnson after signing to play for the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds, Cedar City, Utah, May 21, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Cedar High Athletics, St. George News / Cedar City News
L-R: Cedar High seniors Max Pellet and Kai Gowen sign to play lacrosse for Southern Utah University and Utah Tech University , respectively, Cedar City, Utah, May 13, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
Dixie High School soccer player Gunnar Woods signs a letter of intent to play for Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada, St. George, Utah, May 21, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Dixie High School soccer player Gunnar Woods is joined by his parents after signing a letter of intent to play for Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada, St. George, Utah, May 21, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
L-R: Snow Canyon volleyball player Fetuao Tapasa and soccer player Andelyn Jensen sign their respective letters of intent to play at the collegiate level, May 13, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Snow Canyon Athletics, St. George News
Hurricane High School senior Kellan Pledger signs to play football and run track for the College of the Redwoods in California, Hurricane, Utah, May 21, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Hurricane High Athletics, St. George News
Hurricane High School basketball player Katen Myers signs to play for Yakima Valley College in Washington, Hurricane, Utah, May 6, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Hurricane High Athletics, St. George News
Pine View senior Alyssa Butterfus (with coach Matt Wieland) after she signed to play golf for North Idaho College, St. George Utah, Nov. 1, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Pine View High Athletics, St. George News
Former Cedar High basketball star Japrix Weaver, who most recently played for USU-Eastern, recently announced her transfer to play at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, May 2024 | Photo courtesy of Weber State University Athletics, St. George News
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