High school football: San Juan’s quest for 4-peat stays alive in 2A semifinals

San Juan has been back in 2A for four years now after the UHSAA decided to reinstate 1A football and reshuffle things. Every year since the shift, San Juan has made the finals, winning all three championships.

The Broncos will have the chance to join an exclusive club of teams to make it four straight after they beat Delta 54-14 Saturday in the semifinals.

“It feels really good to make it back here and to make the final game again. I just love our kids so much. We work so hard for it, and to see them rewarded with it again, it is a great feeling,” San Juan head coach Barkley Christensen said.

“It is a big challenge right now keeping the kids focused and not overconfident. As freshmen they have been part of three state championships and some of them, this is their first year as a big-time contributor. I feel like it has been good that we have taken a couple of lumps this year against Grantsville and Hurricane. I think that has helped us settle down, too.”

Broncos quarterback Jaiten Knight had quite an efficient day throwing the ball Saturday, connecting on 19 of his 25 attempts for 355 yards and three touchdowns while adding 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

“He is just impressive. Very efficient game from him today. He is more of an underrated player since he is not putting up the amazing numbers from past QBs we have had, but he can hold his own. He has been getting better and better every game. He has had some big shoes to fill taking over for Parker (Snyder), but he still had quite the season,” Christensen said.

San Juan took a couple drives to get going in this one but after the Broncos scored on a quarterback scramble from Knight with 6:30 left in the first quarter, they kept piling it on.

In all, San Juan accumulated 592 total yards of offense. Beside Knight’s passing production, the Broncos finished with 237 rushing yards thanks to a trio of rushers.

Jagger Nieves rushed 12 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns, JD Palmer added 67 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns, then the previously mentioned 68 yards by Knight.

Delta was able to keep the yardage respectfully close, obtaining 380 total yards of its own, 221 of which were on the ground. Jett Rawlinson was a workhorse for the Rabbits, running the ball 27 times for 151 yards and a touchdown.

The Broncos may have allowed more yards than they normally do, but they were able to routinely stop the Rabbits’ drives before they could put up many points.

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After that first touchdown by Knight, it took less than three minutes to find the end zone again, as Knight connected with Branten Bethea on a 28-yard pass.

Delta was able to respond at the 11:57 mark of the second quarter thanks to a 2-yard rushing touchdown to make it a one score game, but San Juan stepped on the gas after that, scoring 20 points in the second frame. Delta did score another touchdown before halftime, but San Juan still held the 34-14 lead at intermission.

The Broncos started to take their foot off the gas in the third quarter and only scored one touchdown in the third quarter before adding two more in the fourth while hold the Rabbits to nothing.

San Juan will play next Saturday in Cedar City at Southern Utah University against the winner of the night cap game Saturday between the Emery Spartans and the Summit Academy Bears.

The Broncos will play for championship No. 10 in their history, and either matchup will be a rematch as the Broncos defeated Emery 61-20 and Summit Academy 48-6 earlier this season.