4A high school football: Flyers nearly overcome slow start by the offense

Everything was an unmitigated disaster for Dixie for three quarters in its 4A semifinal game against Springville. The Flyers never got off the ground on offense and gave up just enough big plays on defense to help the Red Devils build up a comfortable lead.

One brilliant final quarter nearly made up for all the failures of the previous three quarters.

Dixie capitalized on back-to-back fumbles by the Red Devils to mount a rally that ultimately fell short when Zach Gardanier intercepted a pass with 38.8 seconds left to help Springville escape with a 29-21 victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

"Football is a game of momentum," Flyers coach Blaine Monkres said. "I think they had it for about three quarters today and we only had it one."

One quarter's worth of momentum was enough to put a major scare into the Red Devils.

Springville held a 29-0 lead until Mike Sharp finally put Dixie on the board with an 18-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the fourth quarter. From there, the Flyers forced Springville turnovers on consecutive drives to cut into the lead.

Dixie got the ball on the Red Devil 13 after jumping on a fumbled snap and John Matuauto took it in from six yards out to make it 29-14 with 3:31 left. Then, Dallin Reber recovered a fumbled pass from Taylor Baker and returned it to the Springville 7-yard line — setting up a 4 yard touchdown pass from Sharp to Dalton Smith with 2:36 left.

The Flyers had forced a punt on the Red Devils' next possession and actually drove down to the Springville 38 before Gardanier made his game-saving interception.

Red Devils coach Scott Mitchell said a perfect storm of events had to happen for Dixie to mount the comeback they did in the fourth quarter. But he felt confident his defense would get one last stop when it came time for it after seeing them stop Woods Cross three times inside the 10 yard line in the 4A quarterfinals last week.

"Our defense has been a constant for us all year long," Mitchell said. "They've come up with the plays."

What ultimately cost the Flyers the most was a horrific start on offense. Dixie tallied just 48 yards on its first eight drives of the game. Six drives ended with punts and another came to a halt when Caleb McCray recovered a fumbled snap in Flyer territory.

Sharp in particular struggled. He completed just three of 16 passes for 20 yards in the first half and totaled 124 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-31 passing for the game.

It did not help that the senior had to deal with issues surrounding his ejection against Bonneville last week and was cleared to play by the UHSAA just a few days before the game.

E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com