UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 28, 2024

The Good and the Bad of Region 9: Week Seven

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They did it again. 

The Tigers remained unbeaten through week seven.

But Hurricane’s victory Friday night wasn’t the only big news around Region 9. The Redmen went on an offensive explosion. The Flyers went back to the basics. 

Hurricane Tigers (7-0) vs. Pine View Panthers (2-5):

Hurricane 35, Pine View 21

The Good News: Let’s be real, there hasn’t been bad news for the Hurricane Tigers this season. They’re more than doubling the point output of their opponents. They are the third highest scoring team in the entire state. They have the most effective running back in the state, in Brian Scott, who broke the 1,000 yard rushing mark on the season. But most importantly, they haven’t lost a game.

Friday night the Tigers continued their dominance by beating up on the struggling Panthers of Pine View. It was much of the same for the Tigers, who’ve been operating a total ground and pound offense all year. Pine View actually had more yards of total offense and fewer turnovers then the Tigers did. 

Hurricane made their yards count where they needed them. Brian Scott rushed 27 times for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Taylor Parker only threw three passes the entire game, completing two of them for 17 yards. Hurricane seems to be able to adapt to any defense the opponent throws at them. They can win through the air, or on the ground. Friday night at Pine View they chose the ground, and it worked.

Next week the Tigers have a bye before finishing the season with two road games. They’ll battle at 5-1 Desert Hills on October 13, and it’s looking like that will be the most important game of the season for both teams. 

The Bad News: From bad, to worse. That’s the case for the Pine View Panthers. A season that started out with hope and promise has slowed to a painful limp. Four of their five losses have come by single digits, and the Panthers have actually scored more points than they have allowed. 

The problem is they’re winless in region play at 0-4. 

The Panthers had better statistics in nearly every area of the game on Friday. They had seven more first downs than Hurricane. They had 45 more yards of total offense, three more minutes of possession, and less turnovers than the Tigers. 

The Panthers should be able to win their final two games of the season. They take on the stagnant 2-4 Canyon View Falcons this week at home. They end the season on the road when they visit 2-4 Snow Canyon on October 21.  

 

Dixie Flyers (5-2) vs. Canyon View Falcons (2-4)

Dixie 44, Canyon View 0

The Good News: The Flyers got back to business, and back to winning in week seven. Snapping a two- game losing streak, their victory Friday looked more like the Flyers we saw in the first few weeks of the season. 

If you look up efficiency in the dictionary, it might say something about Dixie quarterback Blake Barney. Barney currently leads the entire state in average passing yards per game, and in total passing yards. He is also third in the state in touchdown passes. Friday night was no different for Barney. He threw 18 times, completing 13 of those throws for 432 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Flyers dominated the game against the Falcons. They had 519 yards of total offense, while holding Canyon View to 169 yards. Taylor Strehlow led the Flyer defense with 8 tackles, including two sacks. 

The Flyers look to be back on track. They finish the season at the resurgent 2-4 Cedar Redmen this week, and then at home against 2-4 Snow Canyon on October 13.

The Bad News: In their three games of Region 9 play, the Falcons have given up 121 points. More importantly, they’ve only scored two points. Thats right, the only points they’ve scored in Region 9 play, were scored by the defense, when they forced a safety against Desert Hills in Week 4. 

Running back Stetson Deardon carried the ball 26 times for 122 yards on Friday night. Outside of that, the offensive output of the Falcons was meager. 

The Falcons will travel down I-15 this week to visit 2-5 Pine View. This is a big opportunity for both teams to make a move away from the bottom of the pack. 

 

Cedar Redmen (2-4) vs. Snow Canyon Warriors (2-4): 

Cedar 53, Snow Canyon 35

The Good News: After starting the season 0-4, the Redmen have resurged, and are now sitting in third place in Region 9.

Cedar ran over the Warriors Friday night. With 403 rushing yards on the night, there were three Redmen who rushed for over 100 yards. Cedar’s offensive attack was Led by John Ursua who had 139 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns.  

The Redmen still have some issues they need to work out, if they plan to keep winning. They fumbled the ball four times Friday night, but luckily for the offense, they only lost one of those fumbles. John Ursua wasn’t efficient throwing the ball. He was only 2-of-12 through the air for 83 yards, and he had two interceptions.

This week’s big battle in Cedar with the 5-2 Flyers of Dixie High is huge for both teams. Cedar is currently third in Region 9, while Dixie is fourth. 

The Bad News: Things are looking bleak for the Warriors. Turnovers certainly hurt them Friday night. They fumbled twice, and quarterback Brayden Linde threw two interceptions, along with his four touchdown passes. 

Time of possession hurt the Warriors. The Redmen had the ball for nearly 30 minutes, while Snow Canyon only had it for 18 and a half. Cooper Robinson was Linde’s favorite target, catching three passes for 90 yards, and scoring each time he caught the ball. 

The Warriors have struggled to get wins this year. They allowed Cedar to tally up nearly 500 yards of total offense, and allowed them to score 53 points. Prior to Friday, Cedar had only scored more than 20 points in a game once this year. 

Snow Canyon has the hardest remaining schedule of any of the Region 9 teams. This week they host 5-1 Desert Hills. They finish the season at 5-2 Dixie, and then at home against 2-5 Pine View. 

 

Region 9 has two teams in the Deseret News’ 3A rankings: 

1) Hurricane 7-0

2) Juan Diego 6-1

3) Desert Hills 5-1

4) Delta 6-1

5) Stansbury 5-1

 

Region 9 is also represented in the statewide rankings:

Hurricane #7

Desert Hills #22