4A high school football: Flyers soar to victory over Mountain View

ST. GEORGE — Behind a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense, Dixie High School scored in each quarter as it romped past Mountain View, 31-6, on Friday night at Walt Brooks Stadium to advance to the second round of the 4A state football playoffs.

Flyer quarterback Mike Sharp scored three times, including runs of 38, 3 and 18 yards. Sharp connected on 18-of-25 passes for 182 yards, and accounted for 115 yards of Dixie's 212 yards on the ground.

Even Mountain View's biggest play of the night ended up a big play for the Flyers, as Dixie's Wyatt Gatchell chased down Bruin's Bennett Maxwell after a 57-yard run, stopping Maxwell two yards short of the score. Maxwell's run set up the Bruins' only score of the night, a 2-yard effort by James Emerson, one of his many runs on the night. But Gatchell's defensive effort seemed to set the pace for the Flyers the balance of the game. Dixie blocked the extra-point attempt, and that was it for Mountain View's scoring for the night.

Dixie scored twice in the first quarter on runs by Sharp and led 14-0 at the 2:56 mark. The Flyers appeared to have the game in hand, but two plays later, it was 14-6 after Emerson's score. A breath of hope washed over the Bruins as they stopped Dixie on its next possession on fourth down at the Bruins' 4-yard line.

After giving up a first down, Dixie forced a punt, taking possession at midfield. The Flyers advanced the ball to the Bruins' 23, and Austin Barker connected on a 40-yard field goal to put the Flyers up 17-6. Barker was perfect on four extra points on the night.

After advancing into Dixie territory on its next possession, the Bruins' hopes faded as Dixie's Dalton Smith intercepted one of Mountain View's few pass attempts at the Flyers' 7-yard line, and Dixie's 17-6 lead held up to halftime.

Down by only 11 points, the Bruins received the ball to begin the second half, but Dixie's strongest defensive effort of the game held Mountain View to a loss of two yards on three downs. Dixie received a punt near midfield, and behind two nice runs by John Matuauto, promptly scored on a 5-yard pass from Sharp to Dallen Reber to take a commanding 24-6 lead.

Mahuauto rushed for 57 yards in the game, most of which were gained with Bruins hanging on his back.

With the help of a face-mask penalty and its first pass reception of the night at the 6-minute mark of the 3rd quarter, the Bruins knocked on the door again at the Dixie 13-yard line. But the Flyers' defense was too much for the Bruins and Dixie took over on downs at the 14-yard line.

The Flyers then sustained a 9-play, 86-yard drive, including nice runs by Mahuauto and receptions by Reber and Gatchell, finally scoring on Sharp's 18-yard run, to extend their lead to the final score of 31-6.

"We focused on stopping the run," said Dixie's coach, Blaine Monkres who knew that Mountain View was not a passing team. "Except for that one big play, that's what we did."

Monkres credited the linemen with a strong performance.

"Sharp is our leader and did a great job," said Monkres. "But he cannot do it without a strong offensive line."

Dixie (7-3) will play the second round of the playoffs next weekend against Bonneville, who advanced with a 14-7 overtime victory against Bountiful.