The San Juan Broncos defeated the Grand County Red Devils 46-6 in the quarterfinals of the UHSAA Utah State 2A Football Championships, which took place on Thursday, Oct. 27, in Blanding.
San Juan collectively rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns. The Broncos also had a passing score, punt return score and field goal.
San Juan scored 26 points in the second quarter to build a 39-0 halftime advantage. Grand’s only score came in the third quarter on a 32-yard pass from junior Brayden Schultz to junior Dakota Johnson. San Juan also scored only once in the second half for a final score of 46-6.
The Red Devils’ season ended with the loss. Grand finished 2016 with a 5-6 record, 1-5 against 2A South opponents, including the quarterfinal loss to the Broncos. The Broncos are 9-1, 6-0 against region foes, and will advance to the semifinals versus South Summit, who defeated Enterprise 55-23 in the quarterfinals. South Summit is also 9-1, having finished second in 2A North play.
The other semifinal game in 2A also boasts a pair of 9-1 teams as 2A North champion Summit Academy will play 2A South runner-up and defending state champion Beaver. Summit Academy defeated South Sevier 41-14 and Beaver defeated North Summit 41-0 in their respective quarterfinal games. Both semifinal games are scheduled to take place on Thursday, Nov. 3, at Weber State University.
Grand will graduate a senior class that includes Taylor Horton, Kenyon Birdwell, Johnathan Park, John Corbin, Jacob Johnston, Justin Grawet, Oscar Flores, Mark Sutton and Dylan Valerio. Key players likely returning for 2017 include Johnson and Schultz, as well as other current juniors Nick Downard, Josh Jones, Bruin Meador and Gage Hansen. Several current sophomores will likely also have key varsity roles in 2017, including Trent Elmore, Jarom Shumway, Jarett Reidhead and Brody Williams. Freshmen Brayden and Bryant Troutt also received signficant varsity playing time in 2016 and figure to increase their contributions in 2017. Grand will also look for contributions from an incoming group of freshmen that enjoyed an undefeated 2016 campaign in middle-school football.
With Grand’s entire slate of fall sports now over, the Red Devils will prepare for winter sports. The swimming team begins competition on Friday, Nov. 4, at Delta, while the boys basketball team begins play on Nov. 22, the girls basketball team begins play on Nov. 30 and the wrestling team begins competition on Dec. 2.
San Juan advances to semifinals, Red Devils eliminated from playoffs
