2A high school football playoffs: San Juan cruises into title game with shutout of South Sevier

PLEASANT GROVE — San Juan coach Monty Lee doesn't claim to be an expert on teenage psyche. So when his Broncos emerged from halftime as a seemingly entirely different team, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"If anybody knew what was going on in the minds of these young men, they'd be a genius," Lee said after his team scored 20 points in a span of 38 seconds en route to a 37-0 victory over South Sevier (3-9) following a mostly emotionless first half Saturday.

The blowout victory moved defending champion San Juan to 11-0 on the season, and more importantly, advanced them to the 2A state title game against South Summit next Saturday at Southern Utah University.

The Broncos got on the scoreboard during the game's opening drive on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Shumway to Tyler Nielson. But they also suffered a big loss during the drive.

San Juan's Stetler Shumway opened the game with runs of 11 and nine yards, and then on the third play of the game, picked up 31 yards on a reception but went down with a left knee injury.

He came back into the game on defense but limped off the field again and didn't return the rest of the contest.

As for next week's championship game, Lee said, "If you ask (Stetler), he's not out of next week's game, but we'll have to see. If I have any markers with the football gods, I think I'll have to turn them all in for him to play. My heart breaks for him."

Cameron Shumway's three-yard touchdown run and Colby Redd's two-point conversion catch put the Broncos up 14-0. But Joseph Leavitt's interception and run to San Juan's four-yard line put the Rams in position to cut that lead in half with 30 seconds to go before halftime.

South Sevier failed to move the ball forward and on fourth and goal, the Rams' Logan Baker seemingly caught a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone as time expired. But the back judge ruled that he was juggling the ball and never gained possession.

With a pair of minutes left in the third quarter, Logan Meyer kicked a 27-yard field goal to add to the Broncos' lead. Then, with 38 seconds left, Ryan Lyman had a 12-yard touchdown run. What followed was a Bobby Bowring fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff, a 31-yard Barkley Christensen scoring reception and a Taj Eldredge 33-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The onslaught made the Rams' heads spin and resulted in the final margin of victory.

"We have 65 kids that bought into what we were doing from the very beginning, and they take it personal," Lee said. "But South Sevier, what a great young bunch of kids. They came out and hit us hard. They should not be ashamed of anything."