ST. GEORGE — The first of four 4A state high school football games kicked off Friday at Walt Brooks Stadium, where No. 3 Dixie hosted No. 6 Mountain Crest.
In Millville, No. 4 and defending 4A champion Ridgeline 40 defeated No. 5 Snow Canyon 21.
In St. George, No. 2 Desert Hills defeated No. 7 Sky View 35-21.
And finally, top-ranked Crimson Cliffs handled No. 8 Cedar 33-14 in a Region 10 rematch in Washington Fields.
Mountain Crest 28, Dixie 21
Playoff football games come down to one or two critical plays.
Dixie had a touchdown called back in the first half because of a holding call, missed a field goal as time expired in the second quarter and went on to lose a heartbreaker at Walt Brooks Stadium.
“We just didn’t get the breaks today,” Dixie coach Blaine Monkres told St. George News after the loss. “It wasn’t our day today. We didn’t lose to a bad team. They’re a good team and they got after it today.”
Seth Takau (64 yards) and David Barschi (73 yards) were on the receiving ends of big touchdown passes from Jaden Schultz for Dixie.
Jeffrey Christian took a short screen pass for a 37-yard touchdown that electrified the home fans and tied the game 21-21 with just over five minutes remaining in the contest.
Dixie got the ball back but the ensuing drive ended in an interception, and on the next play, Mountain Crest quarterback Casey Crofts found Will DeKorver for an 85-yard touchdown that provided the final margin.
Dixie’s season ends at 6-4. Mountain Crest awaits the winner of Desert Hills and Sky View.
Ridgeline 41, Snow Canyon 20
Defending champion and No. 4 seed Ridgeline held No. 5 Snow Canyon scoreless for much of the first half and the Sky Hawk offense built a 28-7 lead en route to defeating the Warriors.
Snow Canyon, which finished 7-4 overall and 5-1 in Region 10, scored on a 95-yard kickoff return by Will Warner. The Warriors’ first-quarter score followed the opening touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run by Ridgeline’s JT White.
The Sky Hawks (8-4 overall, 4-1 in Region 11) reeled off three consecutive scores following Warner’s runback. Quarterback Ian Dahle found receiver Hunter Knighton on a 19-yard scoring strike with 4:25 left in the first quarter, and Nate Dahle added TD rushes of two yards and one yard in the second quarter.
But Snow Canyon responded when Teagan Hugh found paydirt from four yards out, and Corbin Christian’s second PAT closed the gap to 28-14 with 4:01 remaining before the half.
Ridgeline extended the margin with a pair of third-quarter scores – a 1-yard run by Nate Dahle and a 27-yard field goal by Aaron Young – to go up 38-14.
The Warriors’ final score of the game came with 1:23 left in the third quarter when Hugh crossed the goal line from one yard out. But the 2-point conversion run failed, and Young added a 25-yard field goal with 5:10 to play to provide the final margin.
Desert Hills 35, Sky View 21
The Thunder (8-4 overall, 4-2 in Region 10) got two touchdown passes from Simon Fuailetolo and one from Noah Fuailetolo as No. 2 Desert Hills built an insurmountable 35-3 lead en route to the victory over the No. 7 Bobcats (6-5 overall, 4-1 in Region 11).
Sky View kicker Calebe de Quadros booted a 20-yard field goal to open the scoring and later added a 30-yarder. The Thunder defense kept Sky View out of the end zone until the fourth quarter while the Desert Hills enjoy touchdown runs by Javiyen Cummings, Simon Fuailetolo and Beau Wall and a scoring reception by Tayven Mortensen.
The Thunder’s final score came with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter when Simon Fuailetolo found Holmes from nine yards out, and Xander booted his fifth extra point of the night.
Sky View, however, wouldn’t go away and put of 15 points in the final quarter on a pick-six by Ramsey Vicars and a 5-yard run by Michael Furgeson.
1A/2A/3A roundup
Beaver needed a little late magic to prevail and the Beavers (7-4 overall), 4-1 in 2A South) got it when quarterback Tyten Fails found Bodie Wheatley from 30 yards out with two seconds left in the game to defeat Summit Academy 27-24. Beaver fell behind with 29 seconds left in the final quarter but orchestrated a winning drive to advance to the semi-finals against 2A North No. 1 seed South Summit.
Top-ranked Enterprise improved to 11-0 (3-0 in 1A South) with a 35-7 win over North Summit. Kyron Bracken and Aiden Dougherty each had two rushing touchdowns for the Wolves, who advanced into the 1A semifinals with the win.
Kanab (9-2 overall, 2-1 in 1A South) scored the final 13 points of the game and advanced to the 1A semifinals by edging Duchesne 27-26. Griffen Bone threw three TD passes of 6, 74 and 67 yards and ran in the clincher from a yard out to seal the victory.
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