This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
St. George • It hasn't exactly been a secret. Yet, it still may come as a surprise to many: High school football in southern Utah is big-time.
State championships? Check.
Division I recruits? Check.
State-of-the-art facilities? Check.
All from a part of the state that was a prep football backwater not all that long ago.
Today, you could make an argument that Region 3AA South, made up mostly of Washington County schools, is one of the toughest leagues in the state — in any classification.
"The talent pool down here is incredible," said Desert Hills coach Carl Franke, whose team is the preseason favorite to win a Class 3AA title this season.
It's certainly the most competitive league in Utah prep football. Hurricane and Dixie won 3A state championships in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Desert Hills captured the newly created 3AA title in 2013, beating Pine View, and Dixie won it (again) last season, defeating Hurricane. The 2014 semifinals, which also included Pine View and Desert Hills, made the final four an all-Washington County affair.
And it's a deep league. Consider that Cedar City, the only non-Washington County team in 3AA South, came up to Skyline a year ago and knocked off the previously unbeaten Eagles. Skyline went on to earn a berth in the 4A quarterfinals. Cedar was one of the final teams to qualify for the 3AA field.
It could be argued that realignment has made the path to such domination easier. After all, only 13 teams were placed in 3AA football for this season and next. And with defending 3A champion Judge Memorial moving up and perennial northern Utah power Logan going down to 3AA North, that part of the state could have something to say about southern Utah's stranglehold on the classification going forward.
Still, a combination of some of Utah's finest high school athletic facilities, coupled with beautiful weather have made Class 3AA South a magnet for quality coaches. And southern Utah's demographics almost ensure a deep pool of talented players going forward.
Population growth is driving the train. Located in the southwestern corner of the state, Washington County had a population of fewer than 50,000 people in 1990. Fast-forward to 2014 — the year of the most recent population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau — and that figure has tripled, to nearly 152,000. And the economy is rolling again after the area's housing market was buffeted during the Great Recession.
Jeff Cluff, now an arbiter for the Utah High School Activities Association, spent 17 years living in St. George, where he was a football official.
He credits planning by the Washington County School District in building high schools with student bodies of about 1,200 students, the draw of St. George's quality of life that brings top-notch coaches into southern Utah and the weather allowing for year-round programs as major factors in football success.
"The money is there," said Cluff, noting that Washington County's high schools have a deep well of donors. "Any time you can say we need a new football field but the district will not fund the whole thing, $200,000 is quickly raised. ... It's mind boggling how much money is put into the schools that is not from the district."
Craig Hammer, executive director of secondary schools in Washington County and a former coach and principal in the St. George area, said parents adding to the football budget with donations and fundraisers began 11 years ago when he was principal at Dixie.
"We could not get the grass to grow on the football field," he said. "Our plan was to get the grass to grow and the board would fund $185,000."
Parents at the school wanted artificial turf and raised the extra money needed. Pine View parents decided they wanted turf, too, so they raised the extra money. Snow Canyon boosters followed shortly thereafter.
Quick tours of Dixie, Desert Hills, Snow Canyon, Pine View and Hurricane reveal state-of-the-art football fields in picturesque settings with beautiful tracks and sport turf.
Dixie, St. George's oldest high school, is replacing its sports turf at beautiful Walt Brooks Stadium this fall. Pine View got new turf a year ago.
The Desert Hills weight room has few equals in Utah and is state of the art. Hurricane's 4-year-old high school ranks among the most beautiful in Utah.
Desert Hills' coach Franke says it goes beyond facilities. The Southern Utah Nevada Youth Football League — which includes teams representing St. George and Cedar City, as well as Mesquite and Overton, Nev. — helps develop young talent.
"I credit the kids' willingness to learn and develop, as well as great coaching. Also, credit needs to be given to the youth football leagues and their coaches and the time spent with the boys."
The weekly competition tends to force staffs to either improve or face falling behind. Consider that Dixie finished the league in fourth place in 2014, but defeated third-place Hurricane in the state title game. The year before, Desert Hills finished third in Class 3AA South play but won the state title by beating second-place Pine View.
"This region continues to get better every year because it has to in order to compete week in and week out," said Franke. "There is no time to sit around hoping to win on just talent alone. You are always trying to push your program to the next level and adapting to what's new in order to compete."
Snow Canyon coach Marcus Matua offers similar sentiments.
"Every game is going to be hard fought," he said. "You will see teams get beat up. There will be some tough, competitive teams."
Cedar City's Josh Bennett, who along with Andy Stokes at Dixie is a first-year head coach this season, credits off-season programs, tradition and overall competitiveness with making Class 3AA South strong.
"I also believe that the community plays an important role," added Bennett. "When you have the majority of support within your community, the football program seems to do better."
Hammer said that while football programs go up and down, good coaches, top-notch facilities, strong youth football leagues and schools with similar numbers of students contribute to Washington County's success.
He said the Washington County School Board decided to make the maximum capacity of its high schools 1,500. In one of the nation's fastest growing areas, that has meant that new schools must be established. Hammer said Washington County will get a new high school as early as 2019, due to major growth on the eastern side of the county near Desert Hills High.
"Sports have never been a consideration by the board when doing boundaries," he said. "As a former high school principal, I think an optimal size is about 1,000 students. I knew every kid. When you get up to 1,200 to 1,300, it means not knowing every kid."
Hammer said keeping the high schools relatively small and at about the same size is more expensive, but district patrons seem to like the idea.
In other words, don't expect to see any of these schools making the jump to 4A or 5A any time soon.
Can southern Utah's dominance of 3AA football continue? Some, such as the Washington County school district's Hammer, note that football success is cyclical. Northern 3AA teams such as Logan, Judge or Stansbury could challenge the 3AA South schools as soon as this season.
But if they do, they're going to have to earn it. Southern Utah's high school football programs have arrived, and they're not going to give up that state hardware easily.
Twitter: @TribTomWharton Washington County's recent dominance
2011 • Hurricane wins 3A title
2012 • Dixie wins 3A title
2013 • Desert Hills wins 3AA title, Pine View finishes second and Dixie plays in semifinals
2014 • Dixie wins 3AA title, Hurricane finishes second; Pine View and Desert Hills play in semifinals
Inside
Kragthorpe • Utah is in the midst of a golden era of elite high school recruits. > C15 —
Class 3AA school enrollment
Logan • 1,680
Tooele • 1,639
Stansbury • 1,572
Ben Lomond • 1,241
Desert Hills • 1,228
Cedar City • 1,161
Snow Canyon • 1,143
Dixie • 1,130
Park City • 1,126
Pine View • 1,075
Bear River • 927
Hurricane • 873
Judge Memorial • 730
Source: Utah Board of Education
More online
O Top storylines of the prep football season. > tribpreps.com