High school football: Hurricane spoils Pine View homecoming with dominating win

ST. GEORGE — If there were any doubts left the Hurricane Tigers are the real deal, a dominant 27-7 victory Friday night at Pine View should quell those.

Spreading the ball around to seven different running backs, the Tigers compiled more than 200 rushing yards and the Hurricane defense stifled the Panthers' vaunted passing attack en route to the no-doubt win that spoiled the Pine View homecoming.

Pine View managed just 88 yards through the air against Hurricane after passing for 415 yards a week ago.

The Tigers' Brian Scott was steady, rushing for 82 yards on 20 carries and punching in a couple of short TD runs.

"Brian just put us on his back and carried us tonight," Hurricane offensive coordinator Steve Pearson said. "When Jarom (Healey) got hurt, we needed a lift and Brian got it done for us."

Tigers quarterback Adam Long passed for 84 yards and added 34 on the ground. Long scored the first TD of the game and continually frustrated the Pine View (3-3, 1-2) pass rush by escaping the pressure with his scrambling ability.

"Adam is such a good decision-maker," Pearson said. "He managed the game perfectly. There will be a lot of celebrating tonight in the Hurricane Valley."

Hurricane, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Region 9, opened the game with a big drive, going 74 yards in six plays. Long finished the drive with a 12-yard scramble in the right corner for six points. That run was set up by a Healey 43-yard jaunt that started as a dive, but became a sprint down the sideline.

Pine View tied the game at 7-7 two minutes into the second quarter on a three-yard run by Alec Mecham. The senior quarterback struggled after that. He finished 9-for-20 for just 88 yards with three interceptions.

The Panthers didn't have much luck running the ball either, managing just 94 yards on 22 attempts.

Hurricane took the lead for good with 5:25 left in the first half on a 34-yard field goal by BYU-bound Corey Edwards. Edwards hit again early in the third quarter from 26 yards out to make it 13-7.

The Tigers then pushed the lead to 20-7 after a Pine View turnover as Scott scored his first TD from a yard out in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

After another Pine View turnover, Hurricane made it 27-7 on a three-yarder by Scott. Shortly after that score, the tough night for Pine View got worse as an electrical problem forced a 15-minute delay when the stadium lights when out.

Even with the lights back on, the Panthers' offense was dim as the Tigers forced a couple of punts and closed the game out with Scott and company kneeling out the clock.