ST. GEORGE – Winning the battle in the trenches was the key Friday night as Dixie pulled off a 31-22 victory over No. 1-ranked Desert Hills at Walt Brooks Stadium.
Dixie used various means to defeat Desert Hills and take over the top of the 3AA South Region standings. The Flyers scored twice, on their first possessions of each half, on long, sustained drives. But they also showed their typical Dixie flair by scoring twice on big plays, both long passes from Jacob Barben to Hobbs Nyberg. Throw in a 41-yard field goal from Thayne Reid and the Flyers put up 31 points against a very tough defense.
“Desert Hills has great coaching and great athletes,” said Dixie head coach Andy Stokes. “We wanted to keep the ball away from those athletes as much as possible. Our defensive and offensive fronts had great games controlling the line of scrimmage tonight.”
Defensive end Tyson Fisher had a dream night with a recovered fumble, two sacks and a critical quarterback hurry at the end of the game.
On the other side of the ball, wide receiver Hobbs Nyberg had three catches for 159 yards and all of those catches were touchdowns. And all of his production came prior to halftime, when Dixie built a 24-15 lead.
In the second half, the Flyers would put up seven more, this time with the legs of Ammon Ah Quin, and then hold on behind the heroics of Fisher and the rest Dixie defense.
Region 9 preseason co-player of the year Nephi Sewell did what he could to keep the Thunder in the game. Sewell and Thunder leading rusher Brock Parry scored the three Thunder touchdowns and combined for over 200 yards rushing.
Offensively, the Flyers outgained Desert Hills 325-292. Individually, Barben completed 8 of 11 passes for 108 yards. Nyberg had three catches for 159 yards. Ah Quin had 69 yards rushing on 15 carries. For Desert Hills, Sewell had 129 yards on 16 carries. Parry carried the ball four times for 78 yards. Kiser completed 3 of 8 passes for 54 yards.
With the win, Dixie takes sole possession of first place in the region with a 3-0 record and a 4-3 record overall. The Flyers will travel to Snow Canyon next week. Desert Hills had its five-game winning streak snapped. The Thunder fall to 2-1 in region and 5-2 overall and will host Pine View next week.
For more on this game and the rest of the 3AA South Friday night lights, including photos, quotes, stats and insight, go to Saturday Breakdown on St. George News.
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Dixie won? Not surprised one bit. Those Fly Boyz are awesome. Desert Hills… I thought you knew?!