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The odds are not great that two New York natives might end up coaching football at schools a few miles apart in a mid-size southern Utah city. But Pine View's Ray Hosner and Desert Hills' Carl Franke found St. George.

Now, for the second time in four years, the two will bring their teams 300 miles north to Rice-Eccles Stadium to play for the Class 3AA title.

"My connection to Ray is that I played on a team with a couple of players who played for him when he was really young and coached in Brooklyn," said Franke, who played college football at Wagner.

Hosner said he follows some of his old players on Facebook. They have told him they remember Franke and that he is doing a heck of a job.

"It's crazy what a small world it is," he said.

The two coaches say that love brought them to St. George. Both of their wives are southern Utah natives.

"My wife was from St. George," said Hosner. "I played at SUU, but went back to New York for teaching and school. … My wife didn't enjoy New York. So it was a matter of getting married and living in Utah or going our separate ways."

He planned on getting married but hoped he might not get hired in St. George so he and his wife could stay in New York. It's not that he disliked southern Utah. But money for a young couple starting out was an issue.

New York paid almost three times the base salary for a starting teacher as what Utah did. And Hosner was making good cash on the weekends as a bouncer. There is not much of a need for bouncers in St. George, where even finding a bar can be challenging.

Still, Hosner came to Utah in 1994 as an assistant at Hurricane. He moved to Pine View with former Weber State coach Sark Arslanian, where he served as defensive coordinator.

Arslanian subsequently suffered a heart attack and told the Pine View principal he would only retire if Hosner got the job. Hosner has been the Panthers' head man ever since, helping develop a top-flight program known for producing great quarterbacks such as Kody Wilstead and James Lark.

In Franke's case, his dad took a job in St. George. While the Desert Hills coach played punter, placekicker and wide receiver at Wagner, he visited southern Utah often. That's where he met his wife.

"We dated for awhile and settled down in St. George in 1998," said Franke. "I finished up school at SUU."

Franke has now coached for 17 years in southern Utah. He started at Dixie, got a coordinator job at Snow Canyon and returned to Dixie. When Desert Hills opened, new Thunder coach Jake Nelson hired him as offensive coordinator. Franke took over as head coach in 2012.

Franke said while he and Hosner don't hang out every day, the relationship between the New Yorkers is a good one.

"It's kind of neat that two guys far away from home found St. George as their new home," Franke said.

On Friday, Franke and Hosner will renew their rivalry. They might be St. George residents playing in Salt Lake City, but there will be a New York state of mind on the sidelines. —

N.Y. state of mind

• Desert Hills coach Carl Franke and Pine View coach Ray Hosner are New Yorkers who wound up in St. George because each's wife is a southern Utah native.

• Franke was a Wagner University teammate of several players who had earlier played for a young Hosner in Brooklyn.

• Hosner has been coaching in Utah since 1994, while Franke has now been coaching here for 17 years.

Desert Hills vs. Pine View

P Class 3AA Championship, at Rice- Eccles Stadium

• Friday, 11:30 a.m.