ST. GEORGE — In what might be a first in the history of football in southwest Utah, every single Region 9 football team lost on opening night.

Desert Hills took a 1-point lead with less than a minute to go against Faith Lutheran in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the Crusaders came back to seize the win with a field goal kicked with one second remaining.

Snow Canyon gave visiting Stansbury all it wanted, taking a 9-0 lead into halftime before the Stallions won behind two second-half touchdowns.

Hurricane showed some good signs in its first game under head coach Jerry Cowan, while Dixie, Pine View and Cedar fell.

And defending 4A state champion Crimson Cliffs was welcomed into the new season with a road loss to 3A Morgan.

Stansbury 13, Snow Canyon 9

The Warriors did everything but win on the scoreboard in a game that threw all kinds of adversity at the home team.

Senior Archie Threlfall, expected to be a major playmaker on both sides of the ball for Snow Canyon, was injured on the first play from scrimmage.

Threlfall caught a swing pass out of the backfield and was brought down in a mass of bodies near the Warriors sideline. He stood on crutches with a knee brace for the rest of the contest.

The Warriors defense got multiple stops in the first half, giving Snow Canyon’s offense a chance to get on the board.

A 39-yard field goal from Ammon Allred and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Justin Smith to Cael Johnson put the home team ahead 9-0 at the halftime intermission.

But the visitors responded with a touchdown drive that took up more than half of the third quarter, ending in a 2-yard scoring plunge by Carter Peterson.

The Stallions were a good deal bigger across the line of scrimmage than Snow Canyon and they wore the Warriors down on both sides of the ball.

A long drive ending with a quarterback keeper for a 3-yard touchdown provided the final margin.

Smith led the Warriors down the field in their final drive but he was intercepted with one minute left. Stansbury brought out the victory formation and ran out the clock.

Snow Canyon coach Mike Esplin had nothing but good things to say about the Warriors’ effort, especially after the loss of Threlfall.

“Especially defensively,” Esplin said, noting that Threlfall was the team captain on defense from his safety position. “Archie was running the show out there with the whole defense for the most part.”

Esplin loved the Warriors’ attitude and believed that with Threlfall, Snow Canyon would have won the game.

“Goal-wise, if you can hold a team like that below 14 points you’re pretty happy,” Esplin said. “We moved the ball all over the field. We just needed to make connections on those plays inside the red zone.”

Snow Canyon next plays at home against Manti on Aug. 23.

Mountain Crest 35, Hurricane 20

At Hurricane, the Tigers fell to the Mountain Crest Mustangs in new Hurricane head coach Jerry Cowan’s debut.

Mountain Crest got on the scoreboard first, capping off a drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Preston Arambel midway through the first quarter.

A few minutes later, Hurricane went for it on fourth down and 4, and Austyn McRoberts caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Hurricane quarterback Dylyn Gabriel. Kicker Max Hutchings’ PAT tied the game 7-7 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs then quickly scored two unanswered TDs, one at the end of the first and one at the beginning of the second quarter, to take a 21-7 lead.

With just over 3 minutes left in the second quarter, Hurricane capped off a drive with a 1-yard TD run by Gabriel, cutting the Mustangs’ lead to 21-14.

Mountain Crest then engineered a 78-yard drive that culminated in a 28-yard TD reception from Brayden Larsen to Kai Passey, making it 27-14 at halftime for the Mustangs.

On its opening drive of the third quarter, Mountain Crest had its long drive stopped with an interception by Hurricane’s Drew Larsen deep in Tiger territory.

However, a short time later, the Tigers lost the ball on a fumble, after which Mountain Crest capitalized with an 18-yard TD run by Brayden Larsen on its very next play.

Larsen’s 2-point conversion attempt was also good, putting the Mustangs up 35-14 with 7:32 left in the third.

Hurricane then scored on its next possession, with Gabriel running it into the end zone for his second TD, from 8 yards out with 4:30 left in the third. The extra point try missed, however, leaving the score 35-20 for the Mustangs.

Early in the fourth, the Tigers got as close as the 3-yard line but came away empty-handed, thanks to a penalty, a sack and an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down.

Once the Mustangs had taken over on downs with 6 minutes remaining, they were able to run out the remainder of the clock on their last possession.

Next Friday night, Hurricane will travel to Nevada to take on the Moapa Valley Pirates.

– written by Jeff Richards

Morgan 41, Crimson Cliffs 13

Lincoln Gibson got the 3A powerhouse Trojans on the board early with a 45-yard punt return and a 12-yard run in the first quarter as Morgan built a 13-0 lead. Ryder Sheratt threw a pair of touchdown passes to Mustang receivers Malakai Alofipo and Boston Barrow of 25 and eight yards.

Crimson was down 20-0 at the half and got as close at 20-7 and 27-13 in the third quarter, but the Trojans iced the game in the fourth quarter with a short touchdown run and an 81-yard fumble recovery they returned for a touchdown.

Next up for the Mustangs is a home meeting with 6A Bingham Aug. 23.

Richfield 42, Cedar 25

The Reds struck first on a 25-yard pass and catch from Everett Kelling to Krue Giles, but the host 3A Tigers reeled off the next 21 points en route to the win. Cedar, however, closed the gap to 21-19 on a 45-yard TD run by Caleb Paule and a scoring rush by Kelling.

But Richfield responded with another 21-0 run before Cedar finished the game just how they started — with a Kelling-to-Giles 14-yard TD pass.

The Reds hit the road again next week for a matchup with 4A Region 11 foe Bear River.

Springville 41, Dixie 12

The visiting Red Devils beat Dixie for the seventh time in a row, taking a 22-6 lead into halftime and then reeling off 19 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Wyatt Truman threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ran Sawyer in the first quarter and Deacon Virgin tossed a 13-yard score to Dante Ochoa in the fourth quarter to provide all of Dixie’s scoring.

But it was all Springville as six different Red Devils scored one touchdown for the visitors.

Up next for Dixie is a game at Mountain Ridge on Aug. 23.

Faith Lutheran (Nev.) 25, Desert Hills 23

Cyrus Polu collected a 31-yard touchdown pass from Gerritt Grondel and the Thunder lead by two with less than a minute to go in Las Vegas, Nevada.

But the home team Crusaders answered with a 34-yard field goal kicked with one second remaining in the contest to stun the Thunder.

Tytan Mason ran for a 3-yard TD and a 4-yard TD in the first half and Desert Hills led 14-13 at halftime.

The home team put up a field goal and touchdown in the third quarter, but Desert Hills rallied with a 24-yard kick and Polu’s dramatic effort in the fourth before the Crusaders snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Up next for Desert Hills is the Thunder’s home opener against 6A power Lehi on Aug. 23.

Manti 58, Pine View 42

One-hundred points later, the Templars outlasted the Panthers, despite six touchdown passes by Pine View quarterback Levi Shaw. The junior signal caller threw three scoring strikes to Brock Harris (3, 23  and 31 yards) and one apiece to Maka Fiefia (13 yards), Kyle Richardson (15 yards) and Jacoby Chepkwurui (23 yards).

Manti quarterback Maison Starweather was equal to the task, throwing seven touchdown passes to five different receivers, including three to Stone Mortensen.

The back-and-forth affair saw Manti strike first, and the teams traded touchdowns until Pine View was ready to pull even or go ahead. Following a Harris touchdown at the 8:32 mark of the third quarter, the Panthers were down 28-27. But the conversion run failed, and the Templars went on to score the next three touchdowns over a span of 3 minutes to put the game out of reach.

Pine View will look to bounce back next Friday night when they host 3A Canyon View.

1A/2A/3A results

Beaver 35, South Summit 0

The Beavers shut out the host Wildcats from the 2A North and got touchdown runs of 6 and 13 yards from David Orton and scoring rushes from Max Albrecht, Bodie Wheatley and Deegan Blackner. Emmet Lurth was a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs.

Canyon View 21, Mountain View 3

The Falcons get touchdowns from Jason Higgins, Trenton Ludlow and Colt Rushton and three extra points from Ashler Slack to open the season with a win over 4A-Region 8 Mountain View.

Delta 53, Parowan 8

Parowan’s lone score came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Bettridge to Joshua Waller, and Bettridge added the 2-pointer conversion run.

Kanab 56, Ben Lomond 0

Hayden Gubler accounted for four touchdown runs as the Cowboys led 42-0 at the half.

Water Canyon 72, Utah Military Camp Williams 0

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Enterprise (first game is Aug. 23 at home vs. South Sevier)

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