4A high school football: Ence leads Pine View comeback effort

A gutsy and thrilling comeback by Pine View. A heroic performance by quarterback Justin Ence. And a coveted spot in the 4A championship game.

They all painfully come up just oh-so-short for the Panthers, who lost a 19-14 semifinal heartbreaker to Cottonwood on Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

A few inches might be all that prevented Pine View from earning a return 350-mile trip from St. George next week. Cottonwood's defense — and perhaps the lack of instant replay — didn't help matters, either.

What did help Pine View's cause, though, was Ence.

After falling behind 19-0 in the third quarter, the senior signal-caller sparked a second-half rally. In the final 19 minutes, he scored two touchdowns, gained most of his 144 rushing yards and guided Pine View on a late, potential game-winning drive. The possession began on Pine View's 8-yard line before ending on about the Colts' 3-yard-and-8-inch line. The Panthers needed to get to the 3 on fourth-and-2, but Ence and his outstretched arm with the ball were stopped just short by Cottonwood's Jason Bilanzich.

"They just got me, I guess. I thought I had it," said Ence, who also threw for 112 yards and made a key break-up on a pass play while playing defense.

With 3:08 left, the Colts then ran the clock out on Pine View's season.

"It's just frustrating when you come down to it and you're just an inch away or two inches away from going on to the state championship," Pine View coach Ray Hosner said. "That's frustrating."

Hosner was also upset because he thought the official spotted the ball short. That certainly wasn't the only sore spot Hosner had with the officiating, either.

Cottonwood's second touchdown — a 4-yard run by Isi Sofele in the second quarter — came a play after Pine View was flagged for pass interference. The Panthers were adamant that one of their defensive players tipped the ball — a claim backed up by TV replays — so they shouldn't have been penalized.

Nevertheless, the ruling — unable to be overturned by replay at the prep level — gave the Colts first-and-goal on the 4-yard line instead of third-and-5 on the 13.

Hosner called it "a joke." He said officials also missed a key clipping call.

"It's just frustrating for my kids to play that hard," Hosner said, "and then, you know, to have officials think that they did a great job and they can't see a frickin' ball get tipped or they can't give a spot."

Ence said he was "proud of my team" for the near comeback win against the 12-0 Colts, who handed the Panthers their only two losses in a stellar 10-2 season.

"We're all a bunch of brothers. We all love each other. We work our (butts) off just for the guy next to us," Ence said. "Our coaches all love us and put a lot of time and money into it. We're just a brotherhood."

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