ST. GEORGE — Much of the talk during the Region 9 football media day Wednesday at Reach Higher Athletics was about the expansion of the 4A classification in Utah high school athletics.
The Utah High School Athletics Association added two 4A regions to the other two regions that already existed, making a total of 27 football teams in the class.
Region 9 — formerly Region 10 — has the same local schools: Cedar, Crimson Cliffs, Desert Hills, Dixie, Hurricane, Pine View and Snow Canyon.
Similarly, Region 11 features the same teams it had before: Bear River, Green Canyon, Logan, Mountain Crest, Ridgeline and Sky View.
The addition of two new 4A regions unites the class geographically and offers a whole new level of outstanding competition.
Region 10 features the teams from Cottonwood, Hillcrest, Jordan, Murray, Park City, Stansbury and Tooele.
And last, Region 8 brings together the teams from Mountain View, Payson, Provo, Salem Hills, Spanish Fork, Timpanogos and Uintah.
At media day, St. George News asked a player from each of the Region 9 teams for their thoughts about the new 4A alignment.
The defending 4A state champion Desert Hills Thunder compiled a 19-5 record over the past two seasons. Two of those defeats came against Spanish Fork, now added to 4A Region 8.
“I love it. I mean, bring it. Bring the competition,” Desert Hills senior lineman Jarom Wilkins said. “The more teams the better. We’re not afraid of any team or any competition.”
Snow Canyon plays at perennial power Stansbury, now in 4A Region 10, for its first game on Aug. 11.
“I think it’s great. Last year we didn’t have a lot of teams in our divisions,” Warriors senior quarterback Tank Kelly said. “If we win it this year, it’s just better than ever, right? You really win a state championship if you win it this year.”
Hurricane senior Kellen Pledger said that the Tigers are used to playing 4A’s top teams like Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills, so adding teams like Stansbury and Payson will make it much more of a challenge to get into the playoffs.
“But I feel like it will help the younger kids we have coming up to give them a perspective of what the strength is throughout 4A,” Pledger said. “I feel like 4A is the toughest division throughout the state of Utah.”
Crimson Cliffs finished runner up at state last year after falling to Desert Hills 30-14 in the championship game at Greater Zion Stadium.
Mustangs senior Parkur Andrus knows all about the debate over a “real state championship” after winning the 4A state title in each of the past two seasons with the Crimson Cliffs baseball team.
“We hear it all the time, ‘Yeah, you guys didn’t win a state championship, it was only 13 teams, you guys didn’t win anything,’” Andrus said. “So if you win it now, you’re winning something. You’re earning something big.”
Pine View will get a look at the new 4A Region 10 when the Panthers host Tooele for a game on Aug. 25. Pine View tackle Camden Smith welcomes the challenge.
“The bigger the school, usually the better players,” Smith said. “So playing against better players is only going to make us better, and that’s the whole goal.”
The Dixie Flyers will see the new 4A Region 10 when they play a road game at Park City on Aug. 25.
“It’s more competition, let us work harder,” Dixie senior wide receiver Jaxon Barben said. “There’s going to be harder teams out there, which will be harder on us but it’s going to be good for us.”
The Cedar Reds look forward to facing new opponents and hope that the 4A expansion will add some variety to their schedule.
“I absolutely think it will be a good thing,” Cedar senior quarterback Koden Lunt said. “It will also make the playoffs a lot longer, and I think that will be interesting to see for sure.”
St. George news will have ongoing coverage of the beginning of the high school football season, with daily previews of each Region 9 team as kick off approaches on Aug. 11.
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