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High school football: Region 9 returns to normal

Clear as... | 12:07 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

So if Cedar loses to Pine View during a full moon....

This is supposed to bring in MORE MONEY? This is the best the "UHSAA" can approve and the best that Region 9 can come up with?

Or was it if Pine View loses to Cedar during a half-moon?

Whatever!

Normal?? | 7:14 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

If all of Reg 9 were either 3A or 4A then that would be normal. It's still as screwed up as it was last year. there's no other region in the state set up as goofy as this one.

The Insanity Continues | 8:45 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

The Washington County school board promised the UHSAA in writing that it would redraw boundaries for the 2009 school year, if the UHSAA would agree to assign Region Nine to one classification (presumably 3A based on numbers). The UHSAA DIDN'T EVEN RESPOND to the request, according to Travis Christiansen, who sits on the school board.

Because the UHSAA board is a political entity (statewide representation with votes), you have to believe that somebody does not want the three 4A schools back in 3A and has enough political juice to keep this insane Region Nine alignment in place.

This so-called "change" is just window dressing. For Dixie, PV and SC it still really comes down to just two games and for Hurricane, Cedar and DH it's a virtual lock on a playoff spot (sorry CV).

Comments continue below

You Kiddin | 9:10 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

Hos states in the article that he loves being 4A but in the shadows are lawyers to put them back in 3A. Which is it, play anyone anywhere or hurry get us back in an all 3A region.

it s simple | 10:03 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

If the St George schools would stop fighting the realignment and the school board would bite the bullet and realign the schools everyone could be 3A size and the region would be "normal". Some want to stay 4A size and compete 3A. If parents would put more pressure on realignment of the schools and less of whining or threatening to sue things might be better for the region as a whole. Until then its time to strap it up and play. Good luck to all.

Hmmm.... | 10:07 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

I think it is even stranger that the cross-over games somewhat count for the 4-A teams but don't count at all for the 3-A teams. That "somewhat" is what is strange as if the second place team doesn't place second in the overall league (for lack of a better term) then it has to go on the road but if beats all the smaller or 3-A schools to finish second than its deemed "worthy" enough to have a home game. I can it see it now, Bonneville the fourth place team from Region 5 rooting for Canyon View to beat Dixie so they could somewhow go to the play-offs if Dixie (or whatever school from 4-A Region 9) finishes fourth in the overall league standings.

This is insane. They need to realign correctly and put the St. George schools back in 3-A. If not, just have the true separate leagues and let each of the seven schools find their own non-league schedule. To make certain games somewhat count for one set of teams and not count for the other set of teams seems really silly.

Counting numbers..... | 10:12 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

If you want to count numbers, Dixie, PV and Desert Hills could be aligned to make them 3A. Go ahead and leave Snow Canyon 4A because they whine too much and won't let the district re-align them.

Come on Desert News.... | 10:14 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

If you are going to post pictures of players, at least get their name right. If you're not sure how to spell KJ's last name, just put K J under the pic.

3A Motivation? | 10:18 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

What is not clear is how the records of the 3A schools work. For example, what if DH beats SC, PV, and Cedar, but loses to Hurricane, Dixie, and Canyon View, they are 3-3 (1-2 vs 3A). Then Canyon View beats DH and Cedar, but loses to the other four, they are 2-4 (2-1 vs 3A). Who goes to the playoffs then? Is it the overall record or just the record vs the 3A teams?

Anonymous | 10:26 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

Having games count in some sort of strange way for the 4-A teams but not the 3-A teams is probably the silliest thing I've ever seen. Only the UHSAA could think of something this insipid. And if the second place 4-A team beats the other 3-A teams all of sudden it's deemed worthy to host a play-off game. If it takes third it goes to state but on the road. But then if it falls to fourth an entirely different region's team takes its spot. Who dreams of this stuff?

You either have two truly separate leagues meaning you let all the teams determine their own non-league games (and who knows they might choose to play each other but then again Canyon View may want to do something else than have its annual drubbing from Pine View) or you realign them all in 3-A and have a sensibly sized league.

RE: 3A Motivation | 10:44 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

Of course all the games count for 3A schools. If Hurricane beats Cedar but loses to Snow Canyon and Dixie, but Cedar beats both of them to be one game up in the standings then they finish ahead of Hurricane in the standings even though they lost. It is just like a NORMAL region based on record and not just 2 or 3 games. This makes the games against 4A schools more meaningful. If you simply have a bad game and lose to another 3A school but can manage to beat a couple of 4A schools you can still win 3A region 9.

Re: 3-A Motivation? | 10:46 a.m. Aug. 8, 2009

The "cross-over" games mean absolutely nothing to the 3-A teams. Yes, you have that right, I think. They only mean something really to the second place 4-A team who better win all of them to host a game, at least three of them to go to the 4-A play-offs. So let's just say Cedar beats all the 3-A teams and loses to all the 4-A teams and is 3-3 in those set of games it will be the region champion even if say Hurricane went 2-1 against the 3-A teams but managed to beat two of the 4-A teams and went 4-2 in those set of games, the only thing that matters is the results against the 3-A teams.

And if the winner of the 4-A results, let's say Pine VIew beats both Dixie and Snow Canyon and goes 2-0 and loses the other four games it is still the region champion and hosts a play-off game. But if Dixie goes 1-1 in the 4-A results but beats all the 3-A teams it is still second place.

Be Competitive_No Matter What | 1:15 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

From a competitive side...ALL GAMES MATTER!! Coaches coach their players to be competitive against ALL competition. If your team comes out and is thinking this game doesn't matter, then the coaches have sent the wrong message and haven't prepared them and kids can get hurt if they are not prepared. Non-Region games are used to get better and work on things you need to work on for Region games, so you use those games for that reason. Yeah, the Region 9 situation is Bull and people need to keep voicing their concerns to the right people, but Coaches need to coach and get thier players ready for each matchup! You are still going to have those lopsided games in Region, but it shouldn't be blamed on GAMES NOT counting, but on better players and better preparation for the schools that are winning these blowouts. As a competitor, one can find motivation as to why a 3A school would want to beat or be competitive against a 4A school.

Motivation?? | 1:59 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

You mean to tell me that these kids who only play 8 or 9 games a year for maybe 2 years if their good players aren't motivated?? So if the Desert Hills/Pine View games means nothing in the standings to the 2 teams their just going to yawn and go through the motions,yeah right,make some other argument for your realignment because that one doesn't hold water.

Bottom Line | 2:32 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

There is a difference. Let's say Cedar City has a star player nursing an injury and they play Canyon View, he will likely play in a game that counts in the standings vs. say a game vs. Dixie which certainly would be a great win but does not count in the standings. Anybody with any common sense should see this. Heck, in Week 9 last year we saw a number of teams pull out of non-league contests because they didn't count in the standings.

And the set-up here by the UHSAA just doesn't make a lot of sense. Again, maybe Canyon View, which has struggled in recent years, might want to play games against opponents more likely of their level versus being forced to play these cross-over games with Dixie, Pine View and Snow Canyon.

Again, there is more going on than meets a simplistic eye and this is not a good situation nor really an improvement over the situation Region 9 faced last year.

What? | 3:02 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

Honestly, where do you people get this stuff? "You Kiddin" and "It is Simple," in particular. Hosner has always booked the toughest schedule he could get and he's 23-3 in 4A, so obviously he has no problem with 4A. At the same time he's right to want everybody in the same classification; who doesn't? And your lawyer conspiracy nonsense? Please. What, when, who, where? The school board has talked about getting lawyers involved, if it realigns boundaries and the UHSAA still refuses to put Region Nine into one classification. This isn't a Hosner issue.

re what... | 3:42 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

It may not be a Hosner issue but it's Pine View who doing all the complaining,so if not Hosner,who is it there? When it was Hurricane,Cedar etc.playing in 3A with about 800 students nothing was said by Pine View who had about 12 or 13 hundred students,now the shoe is on the other foot there's lots of hollering,sorry but Pine View doesn't get a lot of sympathy,they had there chances in 3A championship games and their 0 and 3.What should be done is what is best for the kids,and that's what were talking about isn't it,or is it the ego's of parents and coaches,lets put the egos and past grievances aside and realign everyone to be in 3A limits,that is whats best for the kids and the natural rivalrys in Southern Utah.

PV | 8:30 p.m. Aug. 8, 2009

PV coach has pushed for all the schools to be 3A. He believes this because, due to the new school opening, PVs enrollment dipped below 1000 last year and will be under it again this year. However, they are projected to be above it the following year. Dixie also fell below 1000 last year but is expected to be above it this coming year. Funny thing--you never hear Dixie coaches, parents, or players whining about numbers. The whining is always coming from PV backers.

The 3A schools will grow...but it will take several years to exceed 1000. D-Hills gets close, but has a dip in a couple of years. H-cane was below 850 last year...it will take several for it go catch up. CV and Cedar are much like Hurricane.

In about six years, most of the schools will be similar in size...assuming that the WCSD makes a serious boundary change for Snow Canyon--who is 200+ more than Dixie.

Re:PV | 3:17 a.m. Aug. 9, 2009

Why are you talking about whining? I don't see anybody here complaining about numbers. This is about realignment; it's not a Hosner issue or a PV issue. As I recall, Hurricane did enough whining for everybody a few years back, so enough already.

The other guy is absolutely right: this is about the kids and what would serve their best interests. That's the point of the discussion here. I believe there is a consensus that a united Region Nine would be in the best interests of all the schools, whatever the classification. School size is never going to be precisely equal, not now or six years from now, but the school board can get everybody close enough. They've said that. The enemy here isn't Hosner, it's the UHSAA.

Region 9 | 4:12 a.m. Aug. 9, 2009

If they wanted to move Dixie, PV and SC up a classification, they should have realigned the other 4A regions and put us with them. It creates unequal opportunities for certain teams to not make the playoffs and some teams from other regions that are weaker make it just because their region qualifies that many. Either keep the region together entirely or dismantle them altogether. Inter-class rivalries like Dixie-Cedar could still be scheduled every year, but it would fill the rest of the regular season with actual 4A region games instead of only 2. Who's ever heard of a 2-game conference schedule?

Region 9 Excitement | 9:11 a.m. Aug. 9, 2009

I'm looking forward to this season! I think Region 9 is one of the toughest and competitive regions in the state. Have you ever watched Dixie/Pine View or Snow Canyon/Dixie or Cedar/Canyon View or Hurricane/Desert Hills and not seen the players give everything they have to the final whistle. And, WOW, did you witness the Hurricane/Pine View game last year!! This is athletics at its purest. These kids love to compete and when every game is over the kids meet in the middle and shake hands or exchange "good-games" with friends. Perhaps we're not paying attention to what the kids are trying to teach us here. They don't care. No matter how the Region is aligned this is some of the best competition any team will find in the state. Let the kids play and listen to what they say. I once heard a coach say that he was looking to his next coaching job, "it's at an orphanage." Just let the kids compete. Good luck Region 9 3A/4A!!!

re excitement | 12:34 p.m. Aug. 9, 2009

Totally agree.The talent level from top to bottom is more equal that its been for many years.Anybody can beat anybody!No one team is going to dominate and that will led to great high school football,can't wait...

Changes | 10:51 a.m. Aug. 10, 2009

Let's see, SC has a new offense and head coach, Dixie has a new DC and smaller SR class, PV has a small SR class (since both PV & Dixie are "normalized" as DH gets former PV and Dixie athletes) and no double SR classes like 08. Cedar & CV...3A size nothing special. That leaves H-cane to win all of region 9...outright!

re changes | 12:06 p.m. Aug. 10, 2009

Good evaluation and you could be right about Hurricane,but I think there are 3 teams that will be close,Hurricane,Dixie and PV with Desert Hills being the sleeper,and who knows about SC and Cedar,very competitive.

Hurricane...Not! | 1:17 p.m. Aug. 15, 2009

Pine View will run away with region 9 again this year. They actually start five seniors on offense and five on defense, which is a good balance. They are stacked at receiver, quarterback and linebacker this year and their offensive line is always good no matter what they have coming back. Don't be deceived, by those who tell you that Pine View is down this year because their JV and freshman teams weren't that good last year. At Pine View its all about developing players for the varsity not winning JV games. Truth is, Pine View is very good this year, perhaps better than last years team. The fact is they have a great program with a tremendous coaching staff which manages to develop players year after year, and this year will be no different.

A Witness to the Obvious | 2:20 p.m. Aug. 22, 2009

Anyone who is really foolish enough to question Coach Hosner on the subject of being a 3A or a 4A team needs to check themselves. Tyhe last time I checked, the only teams to beat Pine View since they went 4A were Timpview and Cottonwood. I think the record speaks for itself. Pine View always has that "Anybody Anytime" attitude and they back it up pretty well. It's obvious that Pine View (along with Dixie and Snow Canyon) is simply tired of being ignored and underrated. They'll play in either classification, but it's not fair to any team to be expected to play teams with generally less depth then jump into gear come playoff time.

Anonymous | 9:35 p.m. Aug. 22, 2009

A Desert Hills fan thinks you rock KJ!

KJ Baller | 3:50 p.m. Aug. 28, 2009

I didn't rcognize the picture...is this the same kid that was crying on the front page of the newspaper when PV go beat by 50 point, and Dias was celebrating some tackle like it was roid rage ??????????

region9PV | 11:30 a.m. Aug. 29, 2009

RE: KJ Baller or should I say Dixie looser, don't you wonder what it would be like to be playing for the state championship. The committment made by these players, Boyer, Dias, Ence, Marinko, Tait was second to none, they felt it when they lost. Bring up the point, being there and not winning, I could refer to some team choking in baseball the last couple of years, but I won't. I know some of those players and they were as disappointed as PV in the football, so KJ Baller, lace up the cleats, put on a helment and play. I don't think you ever have played any sport, and if you have you would know there is disappointment in being on the loosing end. Go PV DHHSwin your share of the region

re:region9PV | 1:21 p.m. Sept. 3, 2009

PV ever wonder what it would be like to win a championship, we have a few you can borrow!!

Region 9 Joke | 5:10 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Region 9 is, has always been, and always will be a 3A region! Pineview played well in 4A. Hurricane Beat PV this year. Morgan beat SC! Guess what?? Region 9 would be a very competetive 3A region PERIOD! It does NOT have the player pool of the northern schools. It does not have open enrollment. Make the realignments, dump 850-900 kids in each school and let's move on. The best rivalry in the state was Dixie/Cedar for 50+ years. Hurricane was smaller but always gave both schools all they could handle...and still are! The region needs to do what is best for the region. PV, SC, Dixie, DH, will ALL be effected by a re-alignment BUT in the end if the region grows together the region will be better. And the playoffs will be better. Having kids go to another school every now and again is part of the process...it's ok. Besides UTAH football is no comparison to the rest of the country. Take a look at TX,CA,FL. Those kids are ball players! Keep up or get out of the way!

DIXIE | 1:59 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

REGION CHAMPS

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