ST. GEORGE — A greatly anticipated rematch of last year’s 4A state championship game highlighted action in Region 9 prep football Friday night.

Crimson Cliffs played like it had something to prove in a dominant win over Desert Hills in Washington Fields.

Meanwhile, Snow Canyon continued its hot start to the season and picked up its first win in region play. Pine View also got a big win at home.

And in non-region action, Dixie fell at home to a team from Beaumont, California.

Following are recaps of Friday night games from around Region 9 and Southern Utah.

Crimson Cliffs 49, Desert Hills 7

The rematch of last year’s 4A state championship game was never in doubt as the Mustangs exploded for 35 points in the first half.

To a man, the Mustangs carried chips on their shoulders and wanted to make a statement after their loss to the Thunder at state.

“Absolutely. They beat us in the championship and we definitely wanted to show up,” senior linebacker Rowan Williams told St. George News. “We knew we’re a good team and we wanted to display that tonight, and I think we did.” 

Williams and Crimson’s ferocious front seven kept Desert Hill’s’ potent ground game in check all night.

Mustang defenders camped out in the Thunder’s backfield, forcing tackles for loss and harassing Desert Hills quarterback Beau Wall on seemingly every play.

“It was just trusting each other and doing your one-eleventh,” Williams said. “When everyone does their one-eleventh, our defense comes together like you saw tonight.”

Offensively, Crimson was denied on downs at the goal line in its first possession but then took control and poured on the points. Senior quarterback Steele Barben found Malakai Alofipo for a 41-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game. 

Then on their next possession, Mason Topalian scored on a 7-yard run and the Mustangs led 14-0 after the first quarter.

The stampede continued in the second frame as Crimson scored three more touchdowns – Barben’s 45-yard throw to Ty West, McCord Christiansen’s 33-yard TD run and Barben’s 35-yard scoring strike to Boston Adamson.

“I just saw two of their players coming and I just tried to cut back, and it ended up working out,” West said about his touchdown catch that saw him weave across the field twice before taking it to the house.

West scored again less than halfway through the third quarter.

On a play West said is called “Tia,” Barben handed off to a receiver in motion, then the Mustangs double-pitched back to Barben, who tossed to West at the sideline and he scampered in for a 42-0 advantage.

“We were ready to run that. Our O-line has to be good. Steele has to make a good play, and we just have to be lucky I guess,” West said.

After Barben threw an interception in the fourth quarter, Desert Hills got on the board via a 22-yard touchdown reception by Javiyen Cummings.

Backup quarterback Darius Strickland scampered 20 yards for Crimson’s last score to provide the final margin.

Crimson Cliffs improved to 2-0 in Region 9 and 4-1 overall while Desert Hills dropped to 1-1, 2-3 after the setback.

Snow Canyon 26, Cedar 7

The Warriors erupted for 20 points in the first quarter and never looked back at home against the Reds.

Senior quarterback Tank Kelly sandwiched a 4-yard touchdown run between two TD passes to JT Westbrook (48 and 45 yards) in Snow Canyon’s dominant first session.

Kelly connected with Cael Johnson for a 3-yard TD toss and Snow Canyon was ahead for good 26-0 at halftime.

Reds quarterback Everett Kelling ran for a 1-yard touchdown with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter to complete the scoring in the contest. 

Snow Canyon improved to 1-0, 4-1 after the win while Cedar fell to 0-2, 1-4 after the road loss.

In a non-region contest at Dixie, the Flyers took a 14-10 lead into halftime but got shut out by the visitors in the second half.

Both of Dixie’s scores were long touchdown passes. 

Quarterback Wyatt Truman hit Ran Sawyer for a 59-yard TD in the first quarter and then found Sawyer again for a 71-yard bomb in the second to account for the Flyers’ lead at halftime.

Dixie slipped to 1-0, 1-4 after the loss.

1A/2A/3A results

Canyon View 49, Hillcrest 0

Canyon View improved to 5-0 overall as quarterback Jaxon Jensen and both the Falcon offense and defense dominated the host Huskies of 4A Region 10. Jensen threw five touchdown passes, two of them to Deeghan Davies, who also added a rushing score. Asher Slack added a scoring pass of his own, and Qwentyn Petter was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra points.

Richfield 48, Kanab 14

Griffen Bone threw a pair of touchdown passes, but it wasn’t enough in the battle of the unbeaten as now-5-0 Richfield handled host Kanab, which slipped to 4-1.

Gunnison Valley 36, Parowan 19

In the loss, Parowan’s Hunter Bettridge ran for one score and threw TD passes of 70 and 64 yards to Cooper Townsend and Brennan Church. The Rams fell to 0-5 while the Bulldogs improved to 4-1.

Beaver 38, Millard 0

The defense pitched a shutout, and Tavyn Hollingshead scored three rushing touchdowns for the host Beavers, who are now 4-1. Beaver also got rushing scores from Tate Gale and Deegan Blackner, while Santiago Amezcua added a 40-yard field goal and three PATs.

Enterprise 34, Duchesne 28

The Wolves scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback win against the host Eagles. Kyron Bracken and Brayden Gardner scored late for Enterprise, now 5-0, and quarterback Ryker Phillips and receiver Jaden Drake connected for a pair of touchdowns.

Monticello 33, Water Canyon 8

The Wildcats fell to 0-3, their lone points coming on a Johnny Johnson 49-yard run and Kyden Johnson conversion run.

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