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CEDAR CITY — The San Juan Broncos topped the South Summit Wildcats in a 43-28 game to finish off the team's second consecutive undefeated season.
Despite the high-scoring nature of the game, the first quarter featured the least action of it all, with San Juan's Zack Conway scoring the only points on a rushing touchdown to get the scoring going.
San Juan opened the second quarter with another rushing touchdown, this time from quarterback and free safety Parker Snyder. An encroachment penalty on the Wildcats gave the Broncos a goal-line look, leading to a 2-point conversion to add to the score.
The Wildcats fought back when Bracken Lassche found Mitchell Gempeler for a touchdown pass. But the excitement for South Summit was stifled when Conway scored his second touchdown of the day on the ensuing possession.
The momentum stayed with San Juan, and Snyder caught an interception with just one second left in the half. He then threw to Jake Ivins for another score to make it 29-7 at the break.
South Summit struck first in the third quarter on a rushing touchdown, but San Juan answered once more as Snyder and Ivins connected again for a score to take a 22-point lead.
The three-score deficit, though, propelled the Wildcats into their strongest quarter of the game.
South Summit scored on a pass from Lassche to Stratton Stevens, and then Braxten Blazzard picked off a Snyder pass just minutes later to get the South Summit crowd on its feet, though the ensuing drive was unsuccessful.
Conway gave the Broncos some extra security with another rushing touchdown, his third of the night, for the final score from the Broncos.
The Wildcats refused to go down quietly and scored another touchdown when Lassche found Braeden Osguthorpe with two minutes left in the game.
"It's a little sad going out, but there's no better way to go out than on top," Conway said of his third championship win with the Broncos. "It hits different being a senior, but it's good."
