Region 10 football playoffs: Cedar rematches with Logan in 8 vs. 9 battle
Region 10 earned the top three spots in the 4A state playoff tournament, as Crimson Cliffs, Desert Hills, and Dixie all earned byes into the quarterfinals.
Crimson won their first-ever Region 10 title last week in a win over Cedar and earned the top overall spot in 4A. Desert Hills won its third straight game and fifth out of its last six following last week’s win over Pine View.
Dixie followed up their win over Crimson Cliffs with a 24-14 victory over Hurricane.
The Flyers have been ravaged by injuries this year, but the win over Crimson Cliffs two weeks ago gives the Flyers a much-needed bye to get healthy.
#8 Cedar (3-6, 2-4 in Region 10) vs. #9 Logan (5-5, 2-3 in Region 11)
For the second consecutive season, Cedar and Logan will match up in the 4A state playoffs.
This time, the Reds will get the home-field advantage. The Grizzlies beat Cedar 46-24 as part of the 7/10 matchup in 2021. Kody Kirk had 422 yards and six touchdowns, with four going to Gage Jenson. Alexander Tiew had 119 yards rushing for Logan. All three of those players are gone, and Cedar’s defense is much improved from the 2021 campaign.
In 2021, Cedar’s defense allowed 364 points in just ten games. In nine regular-season games this year, the Reds cut that number by over 100, down to 241.
Led by Bryson Bennett and Matthew Villa-Rowe on defense, the Reds hung tough with Spanish Fork, Snow Canyon, and Dixie, losing those three games by a combined 11 points.
Junior quarterback Koden Lunt has upped his touchdowns and completion percentage from a year ago, and, cut his interceptions from ten to seven.
Devin Crenshaw leads the Cedar ground game with over 700 yards, while Connor Hardman, Treydn Elliott, and Ammon York are three reliable receiving threats for Lunt.
Junior Keaton Pond leads a Grizzlies offense that has scored as many points as its defense has given up — 224.
Sophomore Tytan Mason and senior Ethan Bracken have shared responsibilities in the backfield.
Andrew Thorney leads the Grizzlies in receptions (45), receiving yards (857), and receiving touchdowns (8).
Logan has a win over #7 Sky View and barely fell to #4 Ridgeline in Region 11 play.
The strength and depth of Region 10 this year do not tell how good the Reds are compared to Logan when looking strictly at records.
The two clubs enter Friday night’s game with Cedar ranked #55 in the state by MaxPreps, and Logan #57.
Prediction
Logan 16, Cedar 17
#4 Ridgeline (6-4, 4-1 in Region 11) vs. #13 Pine View (0-8, 0-6)
The defending 4A champs slot in as the #4 team in the bracket, with their only in-region loss coming to Sky View.
Losing Noah White and Kaden Cox has understandably led to a slight drop-off from last year’s undefeated campaign.
The Riverhawks have relied on their defense this year to get them to the top of Region 11.
Ridgeline’s defense has allowed just 17 points per game, and while they have just eight sacks and eight takeaways, the Riverhawks' defense has held strong led by Owen Munk.
The Riverhawks' defense kept the powerful Snow Canyon offense at bay with a 24-8 win early in the season.
Freshman Nate Dahle had the unenviable task of filling Cox’s shoes at quarterback and has thrown ten touchdowns to just four interceptions.
One of the few notable returners from last year’s club — Utah State commit Jackson Olsen — played just three games before a season-ending injury.
Pine View enters with one more chance to scratch into the win column in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Panthers’ defense has allowed almost 44 points per game this year, while the offense has scored just 16.1 points per game.
The closest Pine View has come to earning a win this year was a 31-29 overtime loss against Cedar in mid-September.
After switching between Abe Rosenlund and Tyler Brown at quarterback, the Panthers have settled on Brown. The senior has thrown eight touchdowns with just one interception over the past four weeks.
Freshman Brock Harris leads the team in receiving yards (604) and touchdowns (5).
Pine View’s running game has averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on the ground and has five touchdowns on the ground.
Two-star Jacob Sersansie has 41 total tackles and an interception as part of the Pine View secondary.
Caden Nelson leads Pine View with five sacks.
Ridgeline’s offense hasn’t scored more than 30 points in a game while Pine View has only held one team below that margin.
Something will have to give on Friday night.
Prediction
Ridgeline 31, Pine View 7
#5 Snow Canyon (6-3, 5-1 in Region 10) vs. #12 Green Canyon (1-8, 1-4 in Region 11)
Through the first half of the season, the Snow Canyon offense didn’t look like the unit many expected it to be with returning stars Hunter Johnson, Brooks Esplin, Jake Hill, and Will Warner.
Since a 27-25 loss to Crimson Cliffs without Johnson on Sept. 9, the Warriors have ripped off four consecutive wins — outscoring teams 201-46.
In that span, Johnson has thrown for 859 yards and 12 touchdowns, with five going to Warner.
Johnson has added six more scores with his legs.
Rockwell Jones has led the defense all season with 87 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss. Brandon Gough leads with four interceptions.
Green Canyon has lost four in a row, and the Wolves’ only win was a 43-14 win over Bear River. The Wolves’ offense only averages ten points per game and has been shut out three times this season and held to ten points or less six times.
Almost half of the points the Wolves have scored this season came in the win over Bear River.
Gavin Christiansen had four of his five rushing touchdowns against the Bears. The Wolves only have one passing touchdown on the year as opposed to eight team interceptions.
Green Canyon’s defense allows 20 points a contest, and only gave up ten in a season-opening 10-3 loss to Crimson Cliffs.
Junior defensive lineman Will Wheatley leads the Wolves with 7.5 sacks and ranks second behind fellow junior Collin Gibson in tackles with 80.
Snow Canyon might have this one wrapped up by halftime.
Prediction
Snow Canyon 48, Green Canyon 3
#7 Sky View (5-4, 4-1 in Region 11) vs. #10 Hurricane (2-8, 1-5 in Region 10)
Starting with a win over Ridgeline on Sept. 16, the Bobcats have won four in a row to climb to the #7 seed in the 4A State Tournament.
Sky View’s defense has been suffocating, allowing just 27 points over the four-game streak, including a 3-0 shutout over Green Canyon to close the regular season. The Bobcats have only 11 sacks in their nine games but have recovered seven fumbles and forced seven interceptions to bolster an offense that scores just under 20 points a game.
Brevin Egbert has been one of the top running backs in 4A with 831 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. The junior ran for 211 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-14 win over Mountain Crest and has topped 100 yards in three of his last five games.
For Hurricane, RJ Wright has once again been one of the best offensive threats in the region, hauling in seven touchdowns on the year to go with 817 receiving yards.
Hurricane was able to snap a four-game losing streak with a 59-37 win over Cottonwood before falling to Dixie in the season finale.
Sophomore Gerritt Grondel has been up-and-down in his first year under center throwing 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
While Sky View’s offense hasn’t been spectacular, the Hurricane defense has surrendered 35 points a night.
Prediction
Sky View 24, Hurricane 13
Sean Ellertson is a sports reporter for the St. George Spectrum & Daily News. To continue to support his work, please subscribe to The Spectrum. Follow Sean on Twitter @SeanEllertson.
This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Region 10 football playoffs: Cedar rematches with Logan in postseason
