SALT LAKE CITY — Welcome to winter football.
Mountain Crest High outlasted Highland in Friday’s state 4-A quarterfinal football game, posting a 14-6 victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The game featured seven turnovers, and both teams played solid defense in the contest. Still, the wintery conditions helped slow down the Mustangs’ high-powered offense and keep things close.
Mountain Crest turned four early turnovers into a 2-yard TD run by Nick Taylor, followed by an Eddy Hall score from 5 yards away.
But Highland’s Malcom Card-Turner returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to paydirt, cutting the lead to 14-6 at halftime.
Due to conditions, the second half featured lots of running, with the Mustangs chewing up the clock.
Highland, the third-place team out of Region 6, had a late drive snuffed out by a penalty.
Hall rushed for 110 yards while his teammates held the Rams to 115 yards in total offense.
The Mustangs (11-2 overall) will take on Timpview (9-4), a 32-14 winner over East in the later semifinal, in next week’s title game, set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Syracuse (12-0) and Jordan (11-1) will round out the championship tripleheader in the state 5-A championship at 2:30 p.m.
• TIMPVIEW 32, EAST 14: At Salt Lake City, Jake Lloyd tossed four touchdown passes, the Thunderbirds forced five turnovers and Timpview advanced to the state 4-A championship game with a victory over East at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In a game played on a slushy field, the Leopards owned a 14-13 halftime lead, but the Thunderbirds scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to put the game away.
Both teams enjoyed impressive regular seasons, but had faced UHSAA scrutiny late in the season over a series of violations, forcing them to play all their postseason games on the road.
3-A
• DIXIE 14, JUAN DIEGO 13: At Salt Lake City, the Soaring Eagle missed a crucial extra point after a second-quarter touchdown, which proved to be the difference in a nail-biting affair, as the Flyers handed Juan Diego its first loss of the season to advance to the state 3-A championship.
Blake Barney rushed for two touchdowns for Dixie (10-2), who will face Spanish Fork in the title game next Friday at 11 a.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Spanish Fork (12-1) topped Desert Hills 35-28 on Thursday. The state 2-A and 1-A title games are today at Pleasant Grove High.
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