Region 9 football recap: Pine View outlasts Dixie in thriller

ST. GEORGE — In Region 9 football action Friday night, the Pine View Panthers came from behind to defeat Dixie 27-26, with the Flyers missing a late field goal.

The thrilling contest kept Pine View unbeaten in region play and bumped Dixie into a tie for second place in the standings. Meanwhile, Desert Hills and Snow Canyon picked up victories at home and Cedar beat Hurricane on the road.

Pine View 27, Dixie 26

With a packed stadium at Pine View High School, the two top teams in Region 9 clashed, both literally and figuratively. The Panthers overcame an early 20-0 deficit to defeat Dixie 27-26.

Dixie scored on a Reggie Graff rushing TD on their first drive, and the Flyer defense followed that up by forcing a three-and-out.

Dixie at Pine View, St George, Utah, Sept. 28, 2019 | Photo by Ryne Williams, St. George News / Cedar City News

Graff picked up another rushing touchdown towards the start of the second quarter. After a touchdown pass from Graff to Treyce Simmons, Dixie led 20-0 with about six minutes left in the half.

Pine View finally broke the seal as quarterback Macloud Crowton connected with Izaiah Moten for a 68-yard pass for a touchdown. Moten came up big on defense with an interception on the next Dixie possession, but after a Pine View fumble, the Flyers took the ball back.

The Panthers then recovered another fumble, and had the ball just past midfield with 1:15 left in the half. On the first play of the possession, Crowton made his way out of bounds to stop the clock, but a Flyers player hit him hard about three yards out of bounds.

That late-hit penalty then led to others, including one for taunting, and the Panthers ended up with the ball at Dixie’s 17-yard line. They ended up scoring a TD shortly thereafter, making the halftime score 20-14 in favor of Dixie.

Pine View scored first in the second half, with 2:36 left in the quarter, when AJ McCarroll kicked a field goal to cut Dixie’s lead to three points, 20-17.

Another turnover for the Flyers on the next possession cost Dixie, as Pine View capitalized on the recovered fumble with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Crowton to Jacob Nobili. That gave the Panthers took the lead for the first time, 24-20, and the crowd erupted.

Dixie then fumbled the ball again but bounced back as they intercepted Crowton once again. This led to a 50-yard touchdown run by Dixie’s Tyler Walden, making the score 26-24 for Dixie after a missed PAT.

Dixie at Pine View, St Geeorg, Utah, Sept. 28, 2019 | Photo by Ryne Williams, St. George News / Cedar City News

Another McCarroll field goal with 4:09 left in the game put Pine View back on top, 27-26.

The Flyers got the ball back for what would be the deciding drive. It all came down to a fourth and long situation, and Graff found a way to snake through the defense, and shed some tackles to get the first down. The drive culminated with a missed 23-yard field goal attempt that was missed.

Before the Flyers decided to kick the field goal, Dixie head coach Blaine Monkres could be seen on the sideline contemplating whether he wanted to put the ball in his best players’ hands, or kick the field goal, but he decided to go the safe route. The kick went up but sailed to the right, and Pine View began to celebrate. The Panthers took over on the 20-yard line and entered the victory formation to run out the clock on their hard-fought homecoming win.

Pine View improved to 5-0 in region play with the win. The Panthers will play at Hurricane next Friday. Meanwhile, 4-1 Dixie will host 1-4 Canyon View next Friday.

Despite the loss, Dixie is still ahead of Pine View in the weighted RPI ranking system being initiated for high school sports playoffs this year. With a 5-2 overall record, Dixie is ranked fourth among 4A teams in the RPI rankings, while Pine View, also 5-2 overall, is sixth.

— written by Ryne Williams

Cedar 35, Hurricane 20

At Hurricane, Cedar’s Kolbe Meek scored four touchdowns as the Reds defeated the Tigers, 35-20.

Kolbe Meek of Cedar catches a TD pass, Cedar at Hurricane, Hurricane, Utah. Sept. 27, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cedar came out strong, scoring on its first two possessions of the game. Both scores were touchdown passes from Jaron Garrett to Meek, giving Cedar an early 14-0 lead. 

Hurricane was able to answer with a 10-yard TD run by Luke Wright late in the first quarter. The extra point kick attempt was blocked by Cedar, leaving the Reds up 14-6.

Early in the second quarter, Garrett capped off a drive with a 1-yard rushing TD, and the Reds led 21-6 at the half. 

During the third quarter, Meek caught yet another scoring pass from Garrett, this one from 25 yards out, to put Cedar ahead 28-6. 

Early in the fourth quarter, Hurricane running back Clayton Warr rushed 36 yards for a TD, making it into the end zone just as he was knocked out of bounds. Warr also ran in the 2-point conversion attempt, bringing the Tigers within two touchdowns, 28-14. 

Hurricane then tried an onside kick, successfully recovering the ball at midfield. Cedar’s defense was able to stop the Tigers, however, and Meek later tacked on one more rushing TD, that one coming a couple plays after he caught a long pass from Garrett. See that play unfold in the embedded St. George News Sports tweet, and start following that new account for live updates on game nights.

Hurricane’s Conner Nielson finished off the night’s scoring with a 15-yard TD run during the final minute of play, with the two-point conversion attempt falling short.

The Reds improved to 2-3 in Region 9 with the win and are now tied with Snow Canyon for fourth place in the region standings. Cedar plays at Snow Canyon next Friday. Meanwhile, Hurricane, which fell to 1-4 in region play, hosts the 5-0 Pine View Panthers next Friday night.

— written by Jeff Richards

Desert Hills 48, Canyon View 7

Canyon View at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2019 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

At Desert Hills, the Thunder rolled to a convincing 48-7 win over the Canyon View Falcons.

Desert Hills jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, thanks to a pair of TD passes from quarterback Logan Wilstead.

The Falcons then got on the board with a 5-yard run by Tanner Hardin midway through the first quarter, after which Desert Hills added a couple more TDs to pull ahead 28-7.

Then, with 2 seconds left in the first half, Canyon View missed a field-goal attempt, which Jacob Wilkins caught and ran back for a 99-yard TD, padding the Thunder’s halftime lead to 35-7.

Desert Hills went on to score two more rushing TDs in the fourth quarter to account for the final score. Jace Mortensen and Ethan Ford each scored two TDs to lead the way for the Thunder.

Desert Hills improved to 4-1 with the win and is tied with Dixie for second place in the Region 9 standings. The Thunder play Crimson Cliffs next Friday. Meanwhile, Canyon View (1-4) will face Dixie (4-1) next Friday night at Dixie.

— written by Jeff Richards

Snow Canyon 35, Crimson Cliffs 21

Crimson Cliffs at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2019 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

At Snow Canyon, the Warriors scored three straight touchdowns in the second quarter to post a 21-0 lead, but Crimson Cliffs managed to get on the board with a 6-yard scoring pass one second before halftime.

The Mustangs also got a TD run by Harold Hansen late in the third to close the gap to a single touchdown, 21-14.

Shortly thereafter, however, the Warriors pulled away with two late scores, including Bretton Stone’s second rushing TD of the game, as Snow Canyon went on to defeat the Mustangs, 35-21.

The Warriors are now 2-3 in region play and tied with Cedar for fourth place. Snow Canyon hosts Cedar next Friday. Meanwhile, 1-4 Mustangs will host Desert Hills, with the game to be played at Dixie State University’s Trailblazer Stadium starting at 7 p.m. Friday.

— written by Jeff Richards

Region 9 football standings (as of Sept. 28)

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

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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