ST. GEORGE — After compiling just four combined wins in the first two weeks of the high school football season, Region 9 teams piled up five victories under the Friday Night Lights in Week 3.

Crimson Cliffs, Snow Canyon and Pine View all lit up the scoreboard in convincing victories at home, and Desert Hills and Hurricane both picked up their first wins of the year on the road.

Dixie had a thrilling rally come up just short in a gut-wrencher at Park City while Canyon View beat hometown rival Cedar in a nail-biter.

Following are recaps of Friday’s Region 9 football games.

Crimson Cliffs 28, Springville 7

The Mustangs improved to 2-1 after their defense kept the visiting Red Devils under wraps for most of the contest.

Jace Sweeten, Crimson’s ball-hawking, bruising free safety, collected two interceptions as part of an overall defensive clinic by the home team.

“They’re a run-heavy team, and we were prepared for that,” Sweeten told St. George News. “We were all over the run and we were all over the pass too. We got to be ready, you just got to stay disciplined when they pass it, and we were.”

Crimson Cliffs (2-1) only had one offensive possession in the first quarter as the visitors came out with a gameplan to run the ball behind a big offensive line.

Then just after the second quarter started, the Mustangs defense held on a fourth down and got the ball back to the offense.

Senior quarterback Steele Barben connected on four consecutive passes, the last a 29-yard touchdown toss to McCord Christiansen.

Sweeten’s two picks ended the visitors’ next two drives and Crimson Cliffs went into halftime ahead 7-0.

“We were playing one-high safety and I just slow-pedaled, read it and made a play,” Sweeten said about the two picks, which were almost identical in their execution.

Crimson Cliffs took the ball on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, marched down the field and scored on Christiansen’s 9-yard touchdown run.

And the Mustangs kept piling it on.

Barben’s 60-yard touchdown strike to Malakai Alofipo put the home team ahead for good 21-0, and then Christiansen’s third TD, a 2-yard bull rush, capped Crimson’s third-quarter outburst at 28-0.

Springville’s sole touchdown late in the game spoiled the shutout.

After a tough loss to 6A Bingham on the road in Week 2, Sweeten said the big home win over the 5A Red Devils was just what the doctor ordered.

“We needed it,” Sweeten said. “Now we just got to take it one game at a time in region. We’re ready for every team.”

Snow Canyon 35, Green Valley, Nevada 14

Senior quarterback Tank Kelly tossed four touchdown passes and ran for another score to account for all five of the Warriors’ touchdowns.

Four different Snow Canyon receivers caught touchdown passes from Kelly: Samaj Thompson, JT Westbrook, Karsten Stuart and Cael Johnson.

Kelly finished with 222 yards passing off of 10-for-19 attempts. He also led the rushing effort for the Warriors (2-1) with 102 yards off of 10 totes.

Middle linebacker Tegun Whitehead led the defensive effort for Snow Canyon, continuing his strong start to the season. Whitehead finished with 8 solo tackles and 5 assists.

Snow Canyon hosts another team from Nevada – Centennial of Las Vegas – in a non-region game next week.

Pine View 58, Tooele 28

For the second week in a row, the Panthers (2-1) were in a shootout, and this time they prevailed over the Buffaloes at home.

Pine View quarterback Adam Moore continued his torrid season, throwing five touchdown passes.

He completed 29-of-36 pass attempts for a whopping 502 yards.

Sophomore Brock Harris put his stamp on the big Pine View win with 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns, including a one-handed grab that had the home fans on their feet.

Senior Quincy Jones led the Panther receivers with 173 yards. Matt Acosta caught five balls for 99 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown.

In all, seven different Panthers caught passes in the air raid, including an 11-yard touchdown reception from Corbin Yocham.

Senior Mo Tonga led Pine View rushers with 97 yards on 15 carries including one score. Moore ran the ball six times for 28 yards and another touchdown.

Kimball Swift booted a 36-yard field goal in the win and tacked on seven extra point kicks for the victors.

Desert Hills 38, Minico, Idaho 12

At Rupert, Idaho, in a Friday afternoon contest, Ryker May tallied a pair of rushing scores from five and three yards out to open the scoring for the Thunder.

Desert Hills (1-2) built a 28-0 lead before the host Spartans got on the board with 43 seconds left in the first half.

But the Thunder offense was too much. Tytan Mason had scoring runs of three and 13 yards, Huy Tran caught a 22-yard TD pass from Beau Wall and Alex Jones was a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs and booted a 23-yard field goal.

The win was head coach Solomona Tapasa’s first on the sideline with Desert Hills.

Hurricane 56, Hillcrest 35

After falling behind 21-7 in the first quarter, the Tigers (1-2) rallied for their first win by outscoring the Huskies 49-14 in the final three frames.

Hurricane took a commanding 35-21 lead into halftime after scoring four unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter.

LJ Langston scored two rushing touchdowns in the win and three other Tigers (Conner Clyde, Ethan Staples, Dylyn Gabriel) ran for solo TDs for Hurricane.

CJ Trump continued his strong start to the season with two touchdown receptions from Gabriel. Trump scored on passes of 28 and 38 yards, both in Hurricane’s dominant second quarter.

Langston was a perfect 8-for-8 on extra-point kicks for the Tigers.

Park City 24, Dixie 21

Dixie (0-3) spotted the Miners 24 points in the first half, then had a furious 21-point rally in the fourth quarter end with an interception.

Ran Sawyer’s 7-yard TD run on the fourth quarter’s first play got the Flyers on the board.

Six minutes later, Wyatt Truman connected with Jaxon Barben on a 38-yard touchdown pass to bring Dixie within 10.

Truman’s 64-yard touchdown heave to Sawyer provided the final margin with 2:48 remaining.

The Flyers had a final possession but Park City forced an interception and then ran out the clock.

Canyon View 20, Cedar 17

The Falcons overcame an early 10-point deficit, then held off a spirited rally at the end to narrowly defeat their crosstown rivals in the annual Coal Creek Classic.

Cedar drove the length of the field and scored on the opening possession. Devin Crenshaw capped off the drive with a short TD run, with Jacob Jenkins kicking the PAT to give Cedar a 7-0 lead with 7:55 left in the first.

Cedar’s next possession also ended in a score as Jenkins converted a 25-yard field goal with 38 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it 10-0.

Cedar got the ball back immediately, thanks to a Canyon View fumble on the ensuing kickoff return.

On fourth down and 7, the Reds appeared to score yet again on a 23-yard TD pass, but the play was nullified due to a penalty. The Reds then picked up a couple of penalties and had to punt.

Canyon View’s next possession was a three-and-out, but Traie Buhler faked the punt and sprinted toward the right sideline for the first down.

A couple of plays later, Buhler hauled in a 44-yard TD pass from Jaxon Jensen, and the Falcons trailed 10-7 with 8:45 left.

In the final minute of the half, Jensen found Deegan Davies in the end zone for a 5-yard TD catch, giving the Falcons a 13-10 lead.

Cedar’s Koden Lunt, the Reds’ former quarterback who has since shifted to a defensive role, blocked Qwentin Petty’s PAT attempt.

While both defenses stiffened for all of the third quarter and much of the fourth, there also were a number of unforced miscues and penalties. Cedar missed a 38-yard field goal midway through the third quarter that would have tied the game

On Canyon View’s ensuing possession, Cedar’s Ammon York appeared to intercept a long pass, but the play was called back due to a penalty.

The Falcons continued their drive, ultimately getting within 10 yards or so of the end zone as the third quarter ended. However, the Falcons fumbled the ball away at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Crenshaw picked up a couple of big runs to get the Reds past midfield, but they ended up punting it away with 8:50 left in the game.

Canyon View’s next possession ate up nearly six minutes and was helped by a trio of penalties on the Reds.

With 2:43 left in the game, Jensen connected with Buhler for another TD pass, this time from 32 yards out, and the Falcons took a 20-10 lead.

But the Reds refused to give up. Cedar quickly marched downfield with quarterback Everett Kelling capping off the drive with a 5-yard TD pass to TreDyn Elliot with 1:13 remaining.

Cedar recovered the ensuing onside kick, giving the Reds one last possession with a chance to either tie or win.

But the Reds had only one timeout left, and they used it after York made an acrobatic catch between two defenders at the 25-yard line.

Kelling threw to York again, but he didn’t quite make it out of bounds before being brought down. The final seconds ticked away, ending Cedar’s hopes.

“Ultimately, we just made too many mistakes to win the game,” Cedar head coach Josh Bennett said. “We had a TD called back on a penalty, we didn’t cover a fake punt that they scored on, we didn’t capitalize on any of the turnovers our defense created and we were going in to score before halftime and didn’t make it. Just too many opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.”

Canyon View’s players and fans celebrated wildly on the field afterward, hoisting the rivalry’s coveted pickax trophy for the first time in five years (Canyon View last defeated Cedar in 2018).

The Falcons, which improved to 3-0, will host Ben Lomond Scots next Friday. Meanwhile, Cedar, which fell to 1-2, will host the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs as the Region 9 regular-season schedule gets underway. Both contests kick off at 7 p.m.

– written by Jeff Richards

3A/2A/1A scores

Beaver 28, Layton Christian 14

Beaver spotted the Eagles a 7-0 then the Beavers’ offense took over en route to a road win and 3-0n start to the season.

Enterprise 34, Emery 20

Ryker Phillips threw a pair of touchdown passes and Jaden Drake ignited the Wolves’ defense with an 85-yard pick 6 as 3-0 Enterprise won a tough one at home.

Providence Hall 42, Parowan 20

The Patriots scored all 42 of their points before the Rams (0-3)got on the board when Hunter Bettridge scored on a 5-yard run and booted the extra point.

Kanab 42, Monument Valley, Arizona 12

In the battle between the Cowboys and the Mustangs, undefeated Kanab was too much for the hosts to improve to 3-0.

El Capitan, Arizona 64, Water Canyon 14

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