St. George • The streak is over.
For the first time since 2009, the Snow Canyon Warriors came out on top with a hard-fought 27-20 home victory over Pine View.
After battling to an 8-6 triple-overtime game two years ago at Warrior stadium, both offenses sparked early as the teams combined for 37 points at halftime.
Snow Canyon senior quarterback Austin Staheli led the way by completing 10 of 17 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores were to fellow senior Andy Day, who had a game-high 88 yards receiving and two TDs on just three catches.
Pine View running back Jacob Mpungi ran for a game-high 124 yards.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>He isn’t just a kicker. Snow Canyon senior wide receiver Andy Day had arguably his best game of the season, hauling in three catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Warriors to victory. Day’s final catch proved to be the game-winning score when Austin Staheli found him over the top for a 25-yard score.
Pine View had the ball inside the red zone with the score tied 20-20 and just more than five minutes to go.
But Alex Kennedy had other plans, picking off a pass from Pine View quarterback Ryan Javines. The Warriors defensive line, which pressured Javines all night, got to the quarterback right as he let the ball fly. It fell well short of his receiver in the corner of the end zone and right into the hands of Kennedy.
That play set up the game-winning score when Staheli found Day for a 25-yard scoring strike.
“We had a bunch formation on the left side and was hoping they would concentrate on that,” Staheli said. “I saw Andy was matched up one-on-one and knew he was going to beat his guy. The offensive line gave me plenty of time to throw the ball, and after Andy caught it, I was so happy and just ran and gave him the biggest hug.”
“It means a lot to me to see the guys sing the fight song after a win, especially after snapping the streak,” Snow Canyon coach Mike Esplin said. “After losing a close game to Dixie last week, it can be tough coming back from that. But the guys showed up hungry and ready to go for practice on Monday, and I knew they were going to come out fired up tonight and they did.
Snow Canyon’s Brock Nowatzke returned a fumble for a touchdown to give Snow Canyon a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. But Pine View quickly took the lead at 14-7 thanks to Mpungi. The senior caught a pass in the flat, and juked his way to a 37-yard score.
FINAL: Snow Canyon beats Pine View 27-20 in a hard-fought game. Warriors end 7-game losing streak to the Panthers. pic.twitter.com/6SmA9eyx0O
— Justin Giles (@JustinGiles_) September 16, 2017