ST. GEORGE — All seven Region 9 football teams made the 4A state playoffs and five of them will play locally in opening round games Friday night, Oct. 20.
Only region champion Crimson Cliffs and tied-for-second Snow Canyon received first round byes when the Utah High School Activities Association released final RPI rankings and the complete 4A tournament bracket.
The Mustangs are the overall No. 2 seed in the tournament after posting a 9-1 record including a perfect 6-0 sweep in Region 9 contests.
Meanwhile Snow Canyon finished 7-3 on the season including 4-2 in region play, earning the No. 7 seed in the state bracket.
Region 11’s Sky View is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, followed by Crimson Cliffs, No. 3 Provo and No. 4 Park City.
Six of the seven Region 9 teams are in one quadrant of the bracket, meaning they will play each other in the first three rounds. And the region is guaranteed to have one team in the semifinals at Rice Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus.
Following are quick looks at Region 9’s opening round 4A playoff games on Oct. 20:
No. 20 Logan at No. 13 Dixie
At 4-6 for the year and 4-2 in the region (number two in a three-way tie for second with that mark) the Flyers host Region 11’s Bears at Walt Brooks Stadium.
Logan comes to St. George at 2-7 and winless in its region play. It will mark Logan’s second trip south this year as the Bears lost 43-19 at Pine View in its opening game of the season Aug. 11.
The winner of this opening round matchup will face No. 3 Park City in the next round.
Dixie went to Park City Aug. 25 and lost 24-21 to the Miners despite a ferocious fourth quarter rally by the Flyers.
No. 18 Pine View at No. 15 Cedar
Both the Panthers and Reds lagged behind the front-runners in Region 9 during the regular season.
Pine View played in some close games but finished 3-6 overall and 1-5 in Region 9, a year after going winless in the region.
Cedar also finished 3-6 overall but were one game better than the Panthers in region play at 2-4.
When these two familiar foes met in Cedar City Sept. 22, the Reds held on to win 28-15 behind TreDyn Elliott’s 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Crimson Cliffs awaits the winner of this contest in the next round.
No. 23 Hurricane at No. 10 Desert Hills
The defending 4A champion Thunder were the third team in the trifecta of second-place finishers in Region 9 at 4-2. They finished 5-4 in the regular season.
The Tigers were a winless 0-6 in Region 9 and 2-8 overall. The young Hurricane squad, in year three of a program rebuild under coach Cory Ashby, scored 59 total points in six region contests this year.
The two region rivals met recently in Hurricane Oct. 6. The Thunder prevailed 56-18 after Tytan Mason galloped for 127 rushing yards and two scores.
Former Tiger Gerritt Grondel piled up 135 yards on the ground on three carries, all for touchdowns in the big win.
Snow Canyon will host the winner of this game in the next round.
Check back with St. George News for more previews and total coverage of the 4A state football playoff games.
And go to The Fan Sports Network for a schedule of streamed playoff games and live broadcasts.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.