DIXIE, RICKS STILL IN HUNT; MESA STAYS UNBEATEN

Unbeaten and No. 5 Mesa College of Arizona already has clinched a share of the Western States Football League title and can claim sole possession of its first crown ever with a win at Ricks College Saturday.

The Thunderbirds, idle last week, are 7-0 in league play and 8-0 overall, while Dixie College of St. George and Ricks College of Rexburg, Idaho, are tied for second in the league with 6-1 and 8-1 records.Dixie, No. 8 in the National Junior College Athletic Association poll, beat in-state rival Snow College of Ephraim 23-17 on Saturday, while No. 10 Ricks won 44-20 at Scottsdale.

Ricks and Dixie still have a chance to win at least a share of the conference title as play enters its final weekend. While Ricks plays host to Mesa, Dixie travels to Phoenix College. If Ricks and Dixie win, both teams would tie Mesa for the league title.

In other games last week, Glendale beat Eastern Arizona 34-13 and Arizona Western defeated Phoenix College 34-24.

Dixie held Snow to minus-2 yards rushing and running back Zed Robinson scored on runs of 30 and 6 yards as the Rebels kept pace with the front-runners. Tyler DeHart found wide receiver Terry Weakley on an 80-yard scoring pass and Bill Hansen added a 26-yard field goal.

Ricks College exploded for 14 points in the third quarter to pull away from a 19-14 halftime lead at Scottsdale, Ariz. Viking running back Troy Simpson scored on runs of 37 and 27 yards and tight end Eric Moss caught scoring passes of 43 and 35 yards from Brian Downey.

Downey also found wide receivers Todd Johnson and Todd Tuttle on scoring passes of 15 yards each.

Glendale's William Babb threw three scoring passes and Charles Hrabowy kicked field goals of 27 and 44 yards in the Gauchos' victory. Babb, in his best outing this season, completed 12-of-20 passes for 195 yards.

Running back Pierre Jones of Arizona Western scored on runs of 22 and 1 yard and Christian Cervantes scored on a 13-yard run and threw a 14-yard TD pass to tight end Kevin Mack in the Matadors' victory over Phoenix.