High school football: Dixie is Sharp in win over Snow Canyon

ST. GEORGE — Make no mistake, Mike Sharp learns from his mistakes. Dixie High's junior quarterback, coming off a five-interception-loss to Pine View, played a nearly flawless game in helping his Flyers to a 34-14 win over Snow Canyon Friday night from Warriors Stadium.

Sharp passed for 170 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 55 more and another score. But most important of all was the fact that he did not turn the ball over once in the game.

"He felt really bad after the Pine View game," Dixie coach Blaine Monkres said. "But he learned some lessons and decided to work hard and get better and he played a great game tonight."

While Sharp was working the offense up and down the field, Dixie's defense was putting the clamps on Snow Canyon star Adam Timo. The senior running back blasted off for 36 yards on his first carry of the game, then managed just 14 yards on a dozen carries the rest of the night.

"I was thinking it was going to be a long night after he broke that first run," Monkres said. "Our defensive ends played great. We were letting them have those little dink passes on the outside. We just didn't want Timo to break a big play."

Instead, it was Sharp and sophomore running back John Matuato who had the big night. Making his first start for the injured Dallen Reber, Matuato rushed for 148 yards on 18 carries, including a scintillating 43 yarder on a fourth-and-one play early in the second quarter.

That touchdown put Dixie up 17-0. Snow Canyon scored late in the half on a fumbled punt that was run into the end zone by Dakota Callahan, pulling to within 17-7 at the break.

But any thought of a comeback by the Warriors was squelched early in the third quarter.

After forcing a Snow Canyon punt, Dixie marched 74 yards on seven plays to push the lead back to 17 at 24-7. Sharp found Ian Gatchell on a screen pass from 39 yards out for the drive capper.

The Flyers also added a Mike Meyers field goal and a defensive score by Logan Taele to push it to 34-7 before a late TD run by Snow Canyon's Adam Larsen provided the final margin.

Gatchell was a key player in the game for Dixie as well, catching five passes for 86 yards and also intercepting a pair of passes on defense.

"Now that we're in the playoffs, it feels great," Gatchell said. "When we put everything together like we're supposed to, we're a very good football team. Scary good."

Dixie, 6-3, had 404 yards of offense to just 105 for the Warriors. Snow Canyon ends the season 2-7.