HURRICANE — It’s not often a Region 9 football game between the first-place and last-place teams generates much fanfare. Yet that’s exactly what happened when Pine View and Hurricane squared off on Friday night. There is certainly no love-lost between the two programs, which has transformed the annual meeting into one of the best prep rivalries in Southern Utah.
How intense can it get?
The Panthers were charged with a taunting penalty before kickoff. With that said, however, once the game actually started, hype and records were put aside, and in the end, Hurricane’s offense executed better than its counterpart and rolled to a 35-21 win at Tiger Stadium.
“It’s a big win for us,” said running back Brian Scott, who rushed for 168 yards on 27 carries with three touchdowns on senior night. “We’ve had a few guys go over there to play (football), and it was a heated game, it’s something we expected going in.”
The Tigers bruising running back eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark with two games left in the regular season. The senior said the milestone is a good accomplishment, but added he’s only halfway to his overall goal of 2,000 yards.
The contest was not the cleanest game ever played. Both teams combined for 21 penalties for 165 yards lost. On top of that, Hurricane (260 yards of total offense) lost two fumbles and Pine View committed one interception.
Hurricane (4-0 region; 7-0 overall) took a 14-0 lead into halftime, but Pine View generated momentum early in the second half.
The Panthers (0-4; 2-5) took over at the Tiger 42 following a Taylor Parker fumble. From there, quarterback Braxton Peterson — who threw for 79 yards on 8-of-14 passing with 138 yards rushing and one touchdown — led his teammates on a 15-play scoring drive, which they made three third-down conversions and one on fourth down.
Ty Matavao capped the drive with a fullback dive touchdown on third-andgoal from the one, cutting the deficit to 14-7 with 1:57 left in the third quarter. The senior finished with 18 yards and two touchdowns while contributing nine defensive tackles.
Page Matavao said this game meant a lot to him and his teammates, adding the Panthers were yet to show their potential previously, but have grown stronger and closer as a family this past week — which showed Friday.
Disaster, though, struck Pine View (305 yards of total offense) immediately following its touchdown. The Tigers’ Jared Edwards returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Panthers 12-yard line, swinging the momentum right back to the home team. Just three plays later, Scott bulldozed his way into the end zone from the 7.
“We got off to a slow start, but we got it going in the second half,” Scott said. “I feel like we wore them down toward the end.”
Pine View didn’t go quietly into the night. Peterson again led the Panthers on another lengthy drive, this one spanning 14 plays in just under four minutes. Matavao pushed the pile on fourth-and-1 to reach paydirt, cutting the deficit to 21-14.
But again, the moment was short-lived for Pine View as its onside kick failed and Hurricane took over with decent field position.
In a statement drive, Tigers coach Chris Homer called upon his star running back for five consecutive rushing plays, an opportunity Scott capitalized on, barreling through the heart of the opposing defensive line. He carried them 45 yards and upped the count to a very favorable 28-14 after his 6-yard plunge.
“As everyone is aware, the Panthers backs were against the wall and we expected them to come out fighting for their playoff lives,” Homer said. “Our (linemen) on both sides of the ball have been excellent. Execution and focus have been great this far, but we need to continue to improve to reach our goals.”
Others notable contributors for Hurricane were running back Adam Thompson (63 yards on eight carries and one touchdown) and Kevin Mortenson (12 tackles and a sack). For Pine View, Prentiss Miller tallied 78 yards on 17 carries and Jake Arslanian, who had 30 yards on four receptions.
Up next for Hurricane is a bye week before its much anticipated matchup with co-region leader Desert Hills. Pine View welcomes Canyon View, which is also winless in region play.
|
|
Activities 
