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Cedar City • Beaver entered the Class 2A semifinals having scored 35 points or more in six straight games, and 41 or more five straight.
But the Beavers, who steamrolled North Summit in virtually every statistical category but continued to make life difficult with self-inflicted mistakes, relied on their suffocating defensive pressure to advance to their first state championship game since 1992 with a 14-6 win at Southern Utah University on Saturday.
The Beavers (10-1) will clash with undefeated South Summit for the title at Weber State on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Weber State at 11 a.m. Neither team has lost to an opponent within the classification.
"It does feel pretty good, but this is just the first step," said Beaver quarterback Matthew Roberts. "We want to win that game. That's the ultimate goal. … They're a solid team. They don't really worry us because, if we execute, we have a solid team, too."
Beaver managed just a one-point lead at intermission, 7-6, despite out-gaining North Summit 206-68 in total yards. The Braves' opening drive, which was punctuated by Rand Pentz's 1-yard sweep and started after recovering a mishandled snap on defense, accounted for 41 of those yards.
"We had a great defensive effort. We felt good about it," said Beaver coach Steve Hutchings. "… North Summit is a great running team. They ran double-tights on us; I think that was obviously the game plan. We have great D-linemen that plug holes and our linebackers read pretty well."
Beaver eventually won the box score in total yards (407-153), rushing yards (330-94), first downs (21-7) and time of possession (27:32-18:46), but lost the turnover battle 4-0.
"We drove down the field several times. I made some costly turnovers that hurt our team a lot," said Roberts, who led all players in rushing with 169 yards. "Our defense saved the game. That was a team win."
The Braves have relied on their defense to compensate for offensive deficiencies all season, and once again leaned on the dark side. Despite allowing chunks of yardage, North Summit bent but didn't break on several occasions, specifically forcing fumbles on its own 15- and 1-yard line in the second half.
"We've got to get rid of that. We don't deserve to be any kind of champion if we're going to play state football like that. We're just glad to get out of here with a win," Hutchings said. "… We score quite a bit inside the red zone. This is not typical for us. Too many fumbles. We've got to clean that up."
Beaver finally found breathing room on Dillon Smith's 9-yard burst with 8:21 remaining in regulation, but immediately allowed North Summit to drive into the red zone on arguably the best drive of the afternoon for the Braves. Faced with fourth-and-1, however, North Summit elected to bounce outside and abandon the straight dive that had produced the majority of the yardage on the drive, and were stuffed behind the line of scrimmage, preserving the Beavers' win.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Beaver 14, North Summit 6
• Beaver advances to first state championship since 1992 behind its defense.
• North Summit avoids a blowout by winning the turnover battle 4-0.
• Matthew Roberts and Dillon Smith each rush for touchdowns in the win.