ST. GEORGE — Week 2 of the high school football season saw plenty of high-scoring action, but just two of eight Region 9 schools were victorious as Dixie and Snow Canyon both won at home.

Dixie 41, Roy 21

At Dixie, the Flyers used a big second quarter to pull ahead of the Roy Royals 35-21 at halftime. Dixie fell behind 14-7 in the first quarter, thanks to two TD runs by Roy’s Cade Harris.

However, the Flyers scored 28 points in the second quarter, including three unanswered TDs in the last five minutes. The last two scores were TD passes from Reggie Graff to Treyce Simmons.

The only points of the second half came on two field goals tacked on by Dixie kicker Josh Stewart.

“It was a big win for us,” Dixie head coach Blaine Monkres said afterward. “Hopefully it got us ready for region next week.”

The Flyers open their Region 9 season next Friday at Desert Hills. 

Snow Canyon 31, Shadow Ridge, Nev. 27

Despite falling behind twice in the fourth quarter, Snow Canyon pulled out a 31-27 home win over Shadow Ridge, Nevada.

Snow Canyon led 10-7 at the half and 17-14 after three quarters, but Shadow Ridge went ahead 20-17 on a TD midway through the fourth quarter.

“They were running a triple option,” Snow Canyon head coach Mike Esplin said of the Mustangs. “We weren’t nearly as physical as we needed to be, so they had the ball most of the game. We had I think 35 total offensive snaps, which is tough. I mean, we put ourselves in a tough situation.”

About 30 seconds after Shadow Ridge took its first lead, Snow Canyon’s Landon Frei connected with receiver Jase Mendenhall, who broke a tackle and raced to the end zone for a 70-yard score. Matt Van Gils’ extra point made it 24-20 for the Warriors.

Shadow Ridge responded with a late drive that culminated in a 1-yard rushing TD with 1:24 left, putting the Mustangs ahead again, 27-24.

“On our next play we threw it to Jase again and he did the same thing,” Esplin said of Frei’s final go-ahead 58-yard TD pass to Mendenhall with 1:09 left.

“That scored the points that ended up winning it for us,” he said. “He came in the clutch, I tell you.”

The Warriors open their Region 9 season on the road next Friday at Hurricane.

Moapa Valley, Nev. 41, Canyon View 14

At Canyon View, the Moapa Valley Pirates plundered the ball multiple times en route to a convincing win over the Falcons.

Moapa scored on its first possession of the game to take an early 7-0 lead, but Canyon View responded with a TD drive of its own to tie the score 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Tyler Maine caught a 14-yard pass from Brisin Jake in the corner of the end zone for the Falcons’ score.

Capitalizing on multiple fumbles, the Pirates then went on to score two more TDs in the second quarter and two in the third to open up a 35-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Canyon View then added a late TD run by Jaxston Yardley, after which Moapa added one more TD to account for the final score of 41-14.

“You can’t turn the ball over five, six, seven times — I don’t know how many times we turned it over — and expect to do anything,” Canyon View head coach Chris Sawyers said after the game.

Still, Sawyers said he saw more positive things in his players than during last week’s 60-7 home loss to Beaver.

“It was a much different field tonight than it was a week ago,” he said. “Last week, I felt like, are the kids just going to give up when things get bad? But this week, I didn’t think they did that in any way. We just shot ourselves in the foot.”

“I’m proud of the effort that they gave,” Sawyers said of his players. “I’m disappointed in how we took care of the ball, or didn’t take care of the ball.”

Next Friday, the Falcons travel to Crimson Cliffs to face the Mustangs in their first-ever home game. Both teams are 0-2 in preseason play.

“It’ll be a good game,” Sawyers predicted. “Unfortunately, you know, neither one of us has played very well, so somebody has got to come out and play well (next week).”

Alta 41, Desert Hills 28

In a seesaw battle at Alta, the Hawks outlasted Desert Hills 41-28. The Hawks outscored the Thunder 19-0 in the first quarter, but Desert Hills scored two TDs in the second quarter to narrow the gap to 19-14 at the half.

The Hawks then scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull ahead 34-14, and stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way.

Logan Wilstead threw two TD passes for the Thunder, and teammate Jace Mortensen caught a TD pass and rushed for another score.

Desert Hills next hosts Dixie in the Region 9 regular season opener next Friday at 7 p.m.

Juab 34, Cedar City 26

At Juab High in Nephi, the Wasps outscored the Cedar City Reds 13-0 during the final quarter to win by eight.

Cedar had led 13-7 after one quarter and had maintained about a one-touchdown lead for much of the game.

However, early in the fourth, Juab’s Cade Bowring scored the go-ahead TD on a 7-yard run, putting the Wasps ahead 27-26. Later in the fourth, Bowring scored again on a short TD run to account for the 34-26 final margin.

Cedar (now 1-1 in preseason play) opens the Region 9 regular season at home against Pine View next Friday.

Highland 52, Pine View 35

In its second high-scoring loss in as many weeks, the Pine View Panthers were unable to keep up at Highland, as the Rams pulled away for a 52-35 win.

Pine View quarterback Macloud Crowton threw five TD passes in the loss, giving him 12 so far this year as the Panthers dropped to 0-2 in preseason play. Crowton completed 25 of 45 passes for 410 yards.

Pine View next plays at Cedar City High in the Region 9 opener on Friday, Aug. 30.

Murray 35, Hurricane 12

At Murray, the Spartans scored four unanswered TDs in the first half to open up a 28-0 lead over the Hurricane Tigers, who were unable to recover. Hurricane’s only two scores came on rushing TDs by Cody Paletta and Brody Rojinski during the fourth quarter.

Hurricane hosts Snow Canyon next Friday at 7 p.m.

Lehi 55, Crimson Cliffs 0

At Lehi, the Pioneers jumped out to a 31-0 lead in the first quarter, then extended it to a 48-0 halftime advantage. Eight different Lehi players scored during the blowout win. Crimson Cliffs will next host Canyon View in Region 9 action Friday, Aug. 30, with both teams looking for their first win of the year.

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