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THE BRACKET — Any indicator of how Emery's state semifinal would go may have been announced on the Spartans' first drive Friday evening at Eccles Coliseum.
No, even on the first play.
That's when Creek Sharp took a screen pass from Wade Stilson and rumbled 56 yards for a touchdown to put the Spartans up 7-0.
The only problem? San Juan had plenty to match.
Zach Conway ran for three touchdowns dance aught two more, and the defending champion Broncos topped Emery 56-48 in a game that featured 104 points and close to 1,200 yards of total offense at Southern Utah University.
Parker Snyder threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more for San Juan (12-0), which advanced to face fourth-seeded Beaver in the 1A state championship next Friday, Nov. 11 at Utah Tech.
Stilson there five touchdown passes and ran for two more scores for the Spartans (7-4).
Beaver 35, South Summit 0
Bodie Wheatley ran for two touchdowns as the Beavers re-asserted their dominance of 2A by handing top-seeded South Summit its first loss of the season, 35-0 at Eccles Coliseum at Southern Utah.
Tyten Fails threw two touchdown passes for the Beavers (8-4), including a 39-yard strike to Tate Gale to open the fourth quarter to complete the shutout.
Ayden Bradshaw added two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, for Beaver.
1A semifinals
— Eric Moala-Liava'a🇺🇸🇹🇴 (@ericmoala1) November 4, 2022
Layton Christian 24, Milford 3
Jessie Giatras rolled up 248 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, and the Eagles held the Tigers to just 56 yards of offense en route to a 21-point win in Friday's 1A state semifinals at Eccles Coliseum.
Alex Montoya gave the Tigers (8-3) their only lead of the game on a 24-yard field goal to open the first quarter, but top-seeded Layton Christian responded with 24 unanswered points beginning with Malik Johnson's 18-yard interception return for a touchdown, per the Deseret News.
Giatras followed up with scoring runs of 55 and 9 yards for the Eagles (9-3), who added a 28-yard field goal through Davi Paulino midway through the fourth quarter.
LCA advances to face Enterprise/Kanab next Friday, Nov. 11 at Greater Zion Stadium at Utah Tech University.
Kanab 16, Enterprise 15
Cowboys quarterback Griffen Bone threw for a touchdown and ran for another to help the Cowboys hand previously unbeaten Enterprise its first loss of the season at Eccles Coliseum.
Parker Frankling ran for 98 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries for Kanab (10-2), according to the Desert News. The Cowboys led from the start on Parker Franklin's 2-yard TD run and only tried briefly, 8-6 when the Wolves (11-1) answered with Kyron Bracken's touchdown with 36 seconds left in the half.
But Bone gave the Cowboys a 12-7 halftime lead just four seconds before the end of the half, and Kanab scored 20 unanswered points to pull away.
Bracken added a second touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Jackson Hiatt for Enterprise, whose best season in program history came up a game short of the state championship game.
8-player semifinals
The 2nd Semifinal of the day and still snowy. Streaming live now with winner to meet Gunnison. pic.twitter.com/8d8fRrp7fo
— TeamHive (@TeamHive_Live) November 3, 2022
Monticello 21, Rich 20
Easton Young's 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter helped third-seeded Monticello overturn a touchdown-deficit and edge second-seeded Rich, 21-20 in a 1A eight-player football semifinal Thursday at Eccles Coliseum at Southern Utah University.
Tavon Black gave Monticello the early lead, but Levi Stonehouse turned it around in the final minute of the first quarter, hauling in a 46-yard TD pass before a 2-point conversion run by Trey Walker to give Rich the early 8-7 lead.
Noah Parry's 55-yard scoring run helped the Rebels push their lead to 14-7 in the second quarter. But Javlin Robison ran in a touchdown with 52 seconds left in the half to help the Buckaroos to a 14-13 halftime lead.
Rich opened the second half with Jaden Desch's pick six to stretch the lead to 20-13. But JD McDonald scored on a short touchdown dive in the fourth before Young added the 2-point conversion run to give Monticello a 21-20 lead midway through the final period.
Still, the Rebels had life on one final drive.
Rich recovered a fumble around midfield with just under four minutes to go. But Tug Davis blew up the line off the edge to force a turnover on downs, and the Buckaroos ran out the rest of the game.
The Buckaroos advanced to face top-seeded Gunnison Valley in next week's eight-player state championship. Date and time of the final will depend on the results of Friday's 4A semifinals; if the 4A final is held at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah, then the eight-player final will be held Nov. 11 at Greater Zion Stadium at Utah Tech.
If the 4A final is held at Utah Tech, meaning two teams from the south are playing, then the eight-player final will be held Nov. 12 at Southern Utah.
Gunnison Valley 61, Water Canyon 6
Bryson Sorensen and Pearson Judy each scored two touchdowns on offense, and Brogan Christensen returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns as top-seeded Gunnison Valley rolled to a 61-6 win Thursday in the first semifinal at Eccles Coliseum.
Tyrek Hopkins had a big day on the snow-covered turf for the Bulldogs (7-4), who jumped out to a 45-6 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
