ST. GEORGE — J.T. Diederichs rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns and Corey Slater passed for 228 yards as Dixie State halted a two-game losing streak with a 35-16 victory over Phoenix College on Saturday night.
"I sure am glad we're home," Dixie State head coach Greg Croshaw said. "The road hasn't been very good to us this year. But we've been pretty darn good at home."
The Rebels, now 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the Western States Football League, improved to 6-0 in Hansen Stadium this season. After a 7-7 first quarter, Dixie State scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to tilt the game in its favor.
Ronaldo Diederichs, Dixie State's fullback and J.T.'s older brother, scored on a run of 18 yards and J.T. Diederichs ran one in from 11 yards out in the second quarter. Slater pushed across a quarterback sneak during the run.
The Rebels gained 197 yards during the second quarter and racked up 499 yards for the game.
It was a balanced effort as Dixie State had 242 yards rushing and 257 passing.
"Phoenix has a lot of talent and they have some playmakers," Croshaw said. "They've been the victims of some bad luck this year. I'm just glad their luck didn't change tonight."
The Bears (1-9, 1-8) finished with 265 yards of offense with quarterback Dante Johnson passing for 190 yards and two scores. But the Rebels were able to hold Phoenix off with a ball-control game plan. J.T. Diederichs' second score of the game came early in the fourth quarter and made it 35-10 for Dixie State.
Phoenix got a late score from Dante Johnson to tight end Joel Johnson.
The Rebels finish their regular season next Saturday at home against the New Mexico Military Academy. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.