ST. GEORGE — Mother Nature ended Region 9’s local football games prematurely, but the outcome of the contests had already been decided early as offenses lit up the scoreboard.

Dixie did not punt a single time in a dismantling of Hurricane at home, and Desert Hills went to Pine View and dominated on the ground.

Crimson Cliffs erupted for 28 points in the first quarter at Cedar in a game that was never close, and Snow Canyon handled a team from Nevada for the second week in a row.

Following are recaps of the first week of Region 9 football games on Friday night.

Dixie 44, Hurricane 10

The Flyers scored every time its offense possessed the ball against the Tigers, leaving no doubt in Dixie’s first win of the season.

Junior quarterback Wyatt Truman was in command of the offense as soon as Dixie received the opening kickoff.

The Flyers ran a series of jet sweeps to move the ball, then Truman found Junior Coughlin on a 30-yard touchdown strike.

Dixie got the ball back and scored again, this time on a Ran Sawyer 1-yard sweep for a touchdown.

Hurricane got on the board on its next possession. Quarterback Dylyn Gabriel called a quick snap and barrelled into the house, making Dixie’s lead 13-7 after the first quarter.

But 24 unanswered points in the second quarter secured the win for Dixie.

Truman connected with Jaxon Barben on a 32-yard pitch-and-catch for a touchdown, then Dixie got the ball back after an interception by Coughlin.

Truman called his own number and ran in a 4-yard score, then the Flyers scored again on a 1-yard stab up the middle by Sylas Russell.

Jonathan Bibiano’s 23-yard field goal cemented Dixie’s 37-7 halftime lead.

LJ Langston answered with a 29-yard field goal for Hurricane midway through the third quarter, then Sawyer capped a long Dixie drive with a 5-yard touchdown jaunt to provide the final margin.

The game was officially called with 9:43 remaining in the fourth quarter after a lightning delay of over 30 minutes.  

Desert Hills 48, Pine View 20

The Thunder boomed out to a 42-13 lead at halftime behind a punishing ground game, never letting Pine View’s explosive offense get close.

Running back Tytan Mason made his presence known early and often for Desert Hills. He started the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown reception from Beau Wall.

Mason sliced into the endzone after a 17-yard burst soon after and Desert Hills led 14-0.

An explosive second quarter started with David Beckstrand’s 34-yard score to get Pine View on the board.

Mason answered with a 32-yard TD scamper for Desert Hills, followed by Ryker May’s 5-yard run that made it 28-7 for the visitors.

Beckstrand found the endzone again for Pine View, this time after a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown.

But Mason kept coming, scoring twice at the end of the second quarter (TD runs of 38 and 2 yards) and the Thunder went into halftime comfortably ahead by 29.

Quarterback Beau Wall ran in a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter as Desert Hills continued to pound the ball.

Quincy Jones hauled in a 5-yard TD toss from Adam Moore as Pine View scored last before the game was called officially with 9:03 left on the clock in the final session.

Crimson Cliffs 51, Cedar 7

At Cedar, Crimson Cliffs scored touchdowns on all four of its first-quarter possessions, building an early 28-0 lead over the Reds.

Crimson’s opening drive ended with McCord Christiansen breaking loose for a 47-yard run up the left sideline to give the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead.

Crimson’s next two possessions ended on 45-yard TD passes, the first going from quarterback Steele Barben to receiver Malakai Alofipo and the second from Barben to Ty West.

With just under 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Barben faked a throw and instead handed it to West, who ran it in untouched from three yards out, giving the Mustangs a 28-0 lead.

The Mustangs were equally strong on defense, forcing the Reds to punt after three plays on all four of Cedar’s first-quarter possessions. Cedar didn’t pick up a first down until early in the second quarter when Crimson was whistled for a 15-yard facemask penalty, shortly after Alofipo had made his second TD catch to put the Mustangs up 35-0.

Late in the second quarter, the Mustangs found themselves deep in Cedar territory again, but Cedar managed to hold them on fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line. However, on Cedar’s next play from scrimmage, senior Trevor Peacock picked off a pass and returned it 19 yards for a TD, giving the Mustangs a 42-0 halftime lead.

The second half was played under the mercy rule running clock. And with just under 3:00 left in the quarter, Cedar avoided the shutout when Koden Lunt took the snap and pushed it into the end zone from three yards out, making it 42-7.

Early in the fourth quarter, Cedar looked to score again, but Crimson intercepted the ball in the end zone, nullifying the Reds’ hopes. The Mustangs added one more rushing touchdown, plus a Ty Ottenschott field goal in the fourth quarter to account for the final score of 51-7.

“It was a good team win,” said Crimson head coach Wayne Alofipo, emphasizing his team’s tough preseason schedule (home wins over Morgan and Springville, with a narrow loss at Bingham in between).

“I knew we had a super strong preseason,” he said. “I told (my players), I said, ‘Hey, we don’t play that tough of a preseason schedule to not allow it to make us better and to transition it over to region.’”

“I’m just grateful for the young men to answer the call and the challenge that I gave them, to make sure that we play football at a high level, to make sure that that’s the standard. I’m just proud of the young men. They all showed up. Proud of our coaching staff, who coached a heck of a game.”

Crimson Cliffs, which improved to 3-1 overall, will play at home next Friday, Sept. 8, against Desert Hills. Meanwhile, Cedar, which dropped to 1-3 overall, next plays at Snow Canyon that same night, starting at 7 p.m.

– written by Jeff Richards

Snow Canyon 38, Centennial (Las Vegas, Nevada) 14

The Warriors jumped ahead with a 21-0 first-quarter performance that put away the visiting Bulldogs early.

It was the Max Reynolds show for Snow Canyon as the running back scored on a 25-yard run and a 19-yarder on the Warriors’ first two possessions.

Tank Kelly threw a 4-yard scoring toss to Konrad Green to put Snow Canyon in command.

Centennial scored its first TD with less than a minute remaining before halftime.

Reynolds ran in his third score, this one a 13-yard burst, early in the third quarter. Ammon Allred’s 30-yard field goal near the end of the session put the game out of reach.

Centennial’s second score came off of a 1-yard rushing TD, then Kelly provided the final margin with his 74-yard TD bomb to Green.

The game was called officially with 3:30 left on the clock after a lightning delay.

1A/2A/3A results

Canyon View 31, Ben Lomond 22 

Jaxon Jensen tallied four touchdowns — three through the air and one on the ground — as the Falcons soared again to improve to 4-0. Canyon View scored the final nine points of the game to secure the victory over the visiting Scots.

Duchesne 20, Beaver 0

The Beavers fell to 3-1 as they couldn’t get anything going on offense in the loss to the now 4-0 Eagles.

Enterprise 36, North Sevier 3

In the Battle of the Wolves, Enterprise remained undefeated at 4-0. Kyron Bracken had two scoring runs, one touchdown reception and a 2-point conversion rush. Quarterback Ryker Phillips threw a pair of TD passes and added a conversion run.

North Summit 47, Parowan 12

The Rams’ defense couldn’t hold back the Braves’ (3-1) offense. Parowan (0-4) touchdowns came from Chandler Hoffmeier on a 5-yard run and Traigun Clark on a 28-yard pass from Hunter Bettridge.

Kanab 16, Millard 13

Kanab improved to 4-0 with two touchdowns and a safety in the win over Millard. Hayden Gubler had a 2-yard scoring run, and Kash Kabonic caught a 39-yard TD pass from Griffen Bone, who also had two PATs, in the victory.

Fredonia, Arizona at Water Canyon: Score not available

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