High school football: Snow Canyon’s big night earns it another shot at a region rival

MURRAY — The Snow Canyon Warriors are using the 4A high school football playoffs as a means to prove themselves.

A three-game losing streak and a series of injuries at the start of the season reduced the Warriors’ championship hopes, but coach Mike Esplin said his squad is starting to come together and they showed their potential Friday evening in a convincing 27-7 win over Murray in the first round of the postseason.

Brody Lounsbury rushed for 82 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Warriors also forced two fumbles in the first minute of the second half to advance to next week’s second-round action, where they will play local rival Crimson Cliffs.

It will be a battle of a No. 19 seed (Snow Canyon) vs. third-seeded Crimson Cliffs. The Mustangs pounded Snow Canyon 35-6 in late September but Esplin feels his team is healthier and far better than its fourth-place finish in Region 10. It also has one successful postseason game under its belt.

“Early on (this season) we were sluggish and we’ve made big steps to find out who we are,” said Esplin.

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Lounsbury was a big part of it. Besides his elusive running, he completed 10 of 20 passes for 82 yards. Most importantly, he didn’t make any mistakes in crucial situations.

Murray couldn’t say the same. The Spartans have also had to deal with injuries but stayed within 7-0 at halftime Friday. As soon as the teams returned from intermission though, Murray bobbled the kickoff then lost fumbles on consecutive possessions, which handed Snow Canyon the ball within spitting distance of the end zone.

JT Westbrook scored on a 5-yard run before most fans had returned from the concession stands. Then Zach Condie grabbed a backward pass and rambled 18 yards for a score to boost the margin to 20-0.

“Our defense really came out and made some plays,” said Lounsbury. “We got that momentum kick and felt like game was ours.”

Murray was hoping for a better effort. The Spartans were winless last year but came into Friday having gone 6-4 in the regular season with a third-place finish in Region 10.

First-year coach Dalton Dunn enjoyed his team’s first home playoff game in several years. The Spartans built their squad around running back Sam Pehrson, who was a 1,000-yard rusher and added 84 yards on 20 carries on this night.

Dunn, however, said Murray was unable to establish a deep passing attack. In fact, two first-half throws were easily intercepted and Snow Canyon was only threatened by a few Murray players.

Besides Pehrson, Murray’s other runners combined for six carries for -24 yards.

The Spartans’ only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 27-0, Murray took advantage of several personal foul penalties to get on the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough and by that time, Snow Canyon was already looking forward to the 300-mile bus trip back to St. George and its upcoming battle against its region rival.

“We hope it’s going to be a different game,” Esplin said, referring to his group’s regular season meeting against Crimson Cliffs. “We’re not the same team we were and neither are they.

“This was a good game to get under our belts. It’s the postseason and everybody is 0-0. We’re actually 1-0 now and we want to build on that.”