GARLAND, Utah — Snow Canyon squandered two fourth-quarter red zone attacks and found itself on the losing end of a 27-17 playoff loss at Bear River Friday night.
Twice the Warriors turned the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter with a chance to pull close to the Bears. Snow Canyon ends the year 4-7 after a promising 2-1 start to the season that included a win at Juan Diego.
Snow Canyon started the game well enough, opening up a 7-0 lead on a Josh Barnes 5-yard run. That’s how the first quarter ended, but Bear River struck early in the second on a 16-yard pass from Riley Walker to Colton Fronk. The two-point conversion try was no good, leaving the score 7-6.
The Warriors again marched the ball, with Barnes making it 14-6 on a 2-yard dive. The rest of the night would belong to Bear River.
The Bears cut it to 14-13 moments later when Walker found Ryker Jensen with his first TD of the year, a 2-yarder.
Just before halftime, Bear River took its first lead of the game on a Walker pass to Bridger Beus. Beus hit the extra point to make it 20-14 and that was the score at intermission.
Kolton Barber hit a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it a three-point game at 20-17. But the Bears answered with a long drive that culminated with a Walker to Fronk hookup from 9 yards to make it a 10-point game at 27-17.
Snow Canyon had two decent chances to score late in the game, but came up empty on both occasions.
Bear River, which started the season 0-6, has now won five consecutive games. The Bears will travel to St. George to take on No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Desert Hills next Friday night.
Frei had 172 passing yards and TJ Taimi caught three passes for 91 yards, but the Warriors season ends at 4-7.
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