ST. GEORGE — It didn’t come easy and it wasn’t pretty, but Snow Canyon survived an upset bid by Green Canyon and beat the Wolves 26-21 Friday night in the first round of the 4A football state playoffs.

Senior quarterback Hunter Johnson threw three first half touchdown passes as Snow Canyon (7-3) jumped out to an early 20-0 lead, but the visitors from Green Canyon (1-9) rallied in the second half and tested the Warriors to their limit.

“It was good to get off to a hot start because it kept Green Canyon down for a little while,” Johnson told St. George News after the win. “We got stagnant. I think we took them a tiny bit lightly, we could have done better.”

“But it was good to get three touchdowns at the start, it obviously helped because we only got one in the second half,” he added.                                                 

The No. 5 seed Warriors looked unstoppable in the first half against No. 12 seed Green Canyon.

Johnson connected on two first-half touchdown passes to Will Warner (5 yards, 40 yards) and on one scoring strike to Jake Hill (8 yards).

“Tale of two halves tonight,” Snow Canyon coach Mike Esplin said. “It was probably good for us overall, because we had to keep our energy up. Our starters had to stay out there and work through some trials.”

Those trials came in the form of the scrappy Wolves, who despite having only one win all season, never quit against Snow Canyon. 

Green Canyon pulled together two trick plays, both double-passes that caught the Warriors defense completely by surprise.

The first set up a 3-yard scoring run by Cade Atkinson and the second resulted in a 56-yard touchdown to Benji Bingham, and suddenly the visitors made it a one-score game at 20-14 with over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The teams traded possessions and play got physical and sloppy as the third quarter moved into the fourth.

But then Snow Canyon put together a scoring drive, keyed by four pass plays into the flat from Johnson to running back Teagan Hugh.

Hugh, a senior, had a breakthrough game for Snow Canyon, exploding when he caught the ball out of the backfield and showing off some blazing speed.

“He was a little bit hampered by a hamstring, so he’s just now coming into stride,” Esplin said. “We knew just how explosive he was gonna be if he stayed healthy. It’s hard to defend against so many weapons that we have.”

Hugh did the grunt work on the clinching drive, moving the ball steadily down the field. Johnson finished it off himself with a 16-yard rushing touchdown that put Snow Canyon ahead for good 26-14.

But the Wolves still didn’t go away, scoring on a quarterback keeper by Atkinson with 56 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.

Snow Canyon recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.

The Warriors’ reward for the victory is a road trip to Millville next week to face defending 4A state champion Ridgeline.

Snow Canyon lost to Ridgeline at home earlier this season in Week 3, falling 24-8 in a game that was never in doubt.

“Eliminate the mistakes we made tonight,” Esplin said. “Now we have a whole season to reflect on what’s worked well, what’s not worked well, where our minds have been at when we’ve played well.”

“We just got to out-prepare them and outwork them,” he added. “It’s going to be a great game.”

Cedar 7, Logan 0

At Cedar City, the Reds scored the game’s only touchdown in the first quarter, then held on to defeat the No. 9 Logan Grizzlies. Click here to read the story.

Sky View 41, Hurricane 6

No. 10 Hurricane seemed to have momentum halfway through the first quarter after quarterback Gerritt Grondel completed two 25-yard passes to Carter Ashby.

But Sky View’s Taylor Lindley picked off a screen pass, ran it back to the 35-yard line and the No. 7 Bobcats took a 6-0 lead when Bryton Williams nabbed a 25-yard scoring strike from Jace Favero.

Hurricane went three-and-out and punted on its next two possessions. Sky View responded with field goals of 52 and 42 yards from Calebe de Quadros.

The Tigers fought back and put together a 9-play, 80-yard drive to close the gap to 12-6 when Grondel found pay dirt from 13 yards out. It was the sophomore signal-caller’s fourth rushing touchdown of the year to go with nine passing scores.

On offense, Hurricane was paced by Ethan Staples, who totaled 59 yards on 12 carries, and Carter Ashby, who tallied 94 yards on five catches.

The Tigers moved the ball across midfield several times in the first half but either punted or turned the ball over on downs, resulting in a 34-6 halftime deficit.

Sky View didn’t punt until there were 30 seconds left in the third quarter. It came after Hurricane had driven to the Bobcat 10-yard line but turned over the ball on downs after Grondel was sacked on fourth down.

No. 10 Hurricane finished the season 2-9 overall, 1-5 in Region 10. Meanwhile, No. 7 Sky View, now 6-4 overall and 4-1 in Region 11, is going on the road and will face No. 2 Desert Hills in the next round of the playoffs.

Ridgeline 24, Pine View 0

On its first possession, No. 13 Pine View advanced the football to the Ridgeline 14-yard line, but an incomplete pass, followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as a result of an equipment infraction, backed up Pine View to the 29-yard line. 

The Riverhawks capitalized with a sack on third down and then held on fourth down, and kicker Aaron Young got them on the board with a 30-yard field goal at the 10:43 mark of the first quarter.

On the ensuring possession, defensive back Ashton McFarlane stepped in front of Pine View quarterback Tyler Brown’s pass for a pick-six. McFarlane had two interceptions on the night and would have tallied a pair of TDs were it not for a holding penalty on the second return.

The Panthers ended the season winless in nine games, while No. 4 Ridgeline improved to 6-4 overall and advanced to face No. 5 Snow Canyon at home next Friday night.

–St. George News editor Vin Cappiello contributed to this report

4A state football quarterfinals, Friday, Oct. 28, 6 p.m.

• No. 8 Cedar @ No. 1 Crimson Cliffs.
• No. 7 Sky View @ No. 2 Desert Hills.
• No. 6 Mountain Crest @ No. 3 Dixie.
• No. 5 Snow Canyon @ No. 4 Ridgeline.

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