Broncos outlast Spartans in shootout to earn rematch with Beaver in 2A Utah state championship game

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan Broncos didn’t know exactly what to expect when they met Emery in the 2A Utah State Football Semifinals this past Friday, November 4 at Southern Utah University, other than the Spartans had a good passing game.
It didn’t take long to prove that fact, and it didn’t take long to see it was going to be a game unlike any the Broncos had seen yet this year – or in the last two years for that matter.
When the Spartans won the opening coin toss and deferred to San Juan, the Broncos chose to receive the ball. That’s not out of the ordinary at all. It’s happened almost every game for two straight seasons.
But what happened next was definitely out of the ordinary. The Spartans’ defense forced a three-and-out and the Broncos had to punt without scoring on their opening drive.
What happened after that was even more out of the ordinary. On Emery’s first offensive play, quarterback Wade Stilson found his favorite receiver, Creek Sharp, in the right flat.
Sharp eluded five San Juan defenders and won a footrace to the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown catch, leaving the San Juan sideline and stands stunned.
It has become very rare for the Broncos to trail in a football game these past two seasons. And it’s only the second time in the past two years a San Juan opponent scored first in a game. The other was actually this season, on September 9 against Canyon View.
But the Broncos responded convincingly in the state semifinal game this past Friday, scoring the next three touchdowns in a row to take a 20-7 lead.
Emery responded with another long touchdown pass from Stilson to Sharp to pull the Spartans back to within six points. It had officially become a first-quarter shootout with the teams trading big-yardage scores.
San Juan scored again just ten seconds later on a 65-yard pass from Parker Snyder to Collin Baker to get their two-TD lead back. But Emery again answered on a 70-yard pass from Stilson to Koalton Curtis.
That was just the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded to end the first eight minutes, San Juan had scored from 78, 70, and 65 yards out and Emery had gotten into the end zone on 70, 56, and 48-yard plays.
The teams had combined for 49 points and the Broncos held a 28-21 lead. The scoring didn’t slow down a whole lot in the second quarter, but the long plays did calm down a bit.
San Juan regained a two-score lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Snyder to Conway just 50 seconds into the quarter. From that point the teams traded touchdowns with the Spartans punching one in with just two seconds left in the half to make the score 43-35 San Juan.
Emery was driving through midfield on their first possession of the second half, but the Bronco defense got a huge stop when Parker Snyder intercepted a Stilson pass at the San Juan 28, returning it to the 45.
The Broncos drove back to the Spartan 27, but Parker Snyder’s pass to Anthony Done at the goal line on the next play was intercepted, giving Emery the ball back at the 20.
The Spartans methodically drove the ball the length of the field down to the San Juan three where the Broncos got their second huge defensive stop of the quarter.
Garrett Young dove to knock down two Stilson passes intended for Sharp in the end zone. The plays by Young followed a play that featured outstanding coverage by Hudson Whatcott in the end zone that probably should have resulted in offensive pass interference.
But the most important things were that the Broncos had gotten a huge goal line stand. They were starting to get some pressure on Wade Stilson, and they had prevented the Spartans from tying the game.
But the San Juan offense couldn’t get any yardage after taking over inside their own ten and they were forced to punt, giving the ball back to Emery inside the Bronco 30. Again, San Juan had to rely on their defense to hold on to the lead.
They came through yet again, continuing to provide pressure to the quarterback and forcing a turnover on downs.
The Bronco offense took back over on their own 28 but unfortunately Snyder threw another interception, this time at midfield, to give the ball back to Emery.
So, again, the weight of the game was on the shoulders of the San Juan defense. But two minutes into the fourth quarter, on their third straight trip to the Broncos’ red zone, with the help of a soft defenseless receiver penalty on Collin Baker and four full-team pushes at the goal line, the Spartans finally punched the ball into the end zone, bringing them to within two points of tying the game.
On maybe the biggest play of the game, Baker got a huge interception on the two-point try, preserving the San Juan lead 43-41.
From that point the San Juan offense started to get back in gear, driving from their own 33 all the way to the Emery two, converting a fourth down try along the way on a circus catch by Garrett Young.
On third and goal from the two, Snyder faked a handoff to Conway, then ran it into the end zone himself to give the Broncos a 49-41 lead.
On the Spartans’ ensuing possession San Juan again came up with a huge defensive stop when Garrett Young intercepted a Wade Stilson pass at midfield.
The Bronco offense took advantage of the momentum, using most of the remaining time in the game to drive 49 yards and ultimately score on an 11-yard run by Snyder, regaining their two-TD lead.
Emery was never once out of the game though, and they took just 1:24 to drive 63 yards and score on a ten-yard pass from Stilson to Curtis to make the score 56-48.
With just 22 seconds left in the game the result, very appropriately, would be decided by what would happen on a Spartan onside kick attempt.
The Emery kicker struck the ball perfectly, but Brigham Nielson stepped up to field it, securing the ball and the win for San Juan in what was a shootout and a nail-biter all night long.
It surely was a win, but it wasn’t the type of game the Broncos typically like to play, as Head Coach Barkley Christensen told the Deseret News.
“Of course we’re happy to [punch] our ticket to the state championship, survive and advance, but [it’s] not super satisfying winning like that,” he said.
The teams combined for 15 touchdowns, 104 points, and 1,201 yards of total offense, 904 of which was through the air.
Wade Stilson led the way for the Spartans, throwing for 528 yards and five touchdowns, while Parker Snyder threw for 376 yards and three TDs. The teams also combined for seven turnovers and nine punts in the game.
If I were to say the Bronco defense won the game, you’d probably be a bit doubtful. But San Juan kept up the “bend, don’t break” tradition that Christensen has touted for these past two seasons.
They bent quite a bit in this one, but ultimately didn’t break and came through to secure the victory and put the Broncos in the state championship game for the second straight year.
Garrett Young stood out among the heroes. He was in plays all over the field. Though he was credited with defending four Emery passes and intercepting one, he played a much bigger role than the stats suggest.
Collin Baker was huge too, defending two Spartan passes and, of course, intercepting the fourth-quarter two-point try that would have tied the game.
Brigham Nielson also got an interception and a fumble recovery in the win. Sophomore Jake Ivins led San Juan with 11 tackles and junior Trace Bennett had ten. Young and Nielson had nine and eight stops respectively. Justice Black got the lone sack on Stilson.
The Broncos’ offense took care of business also. Zack Conway was solid as always, running for 140 yards with three touchdowns. He also caught a TD pass from Snyder in the win.
In addition to his three passing touchdowns, Parker Snyder ran for two more and 56 rushing yards on the night.
Garrett Young had a night offensively too, with 132 yards receiving and a TD. Collin Baker got the other receiving touchdown and had 94 yards in the win.
The victory puts San Juan in familiar territory. For the second straight year they’ll play in the 2A Utah State Championship Game. And it will be against the same foe they beat for the title in 2021.
The San Juan Broncos will square off against the Beaver Beavers for the fourth time in the last two seasons with the Broncos looking to run the table.
The teams met just a month ago on the San Juan High School football field with the Broncos sneaking away with a 35-27 win. It’s going to be a battle for the ages this Friday, November 11.
The kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Greater Zion Stadium at Utah Tech University in St. George. Here’s a bit of a shameless plug regarding your media options this weekend:
The game video will be streamed on teamhive.live, but if you prefer the local call with Rhett Sifford and Art Adair, you can pause the audio stream at redrock92.com until it matches the video.
The broadcast will of course also be available live on 92.7 FM on your radio dial.