Hawks’ early lead slips away as Cedar Reds end up with 48-24 victory

ByRobert Stevens

CEDAR CITY—North Sanpete led 9-0 after the first quarter Friday. Then Cedar answered with 17 points before halftime and pulled away over the rest of the game for a 48-24 win in 3A South football.

NSHS varsity football players prepare for the next play during Friday’s away game against Cedar City. Photo by Ty Allen.

Quarterback Luke Lee gave the Hawks the lead with a 9-yard touchdown run at 10:11 in the first quarter. Gunner Pollock kicked a field goal with 1:43 left in the quarter to make it 9-0.

Cedar (4-2, 2-1) took control in the second quarter. Running back Braxton DeMille scored on a 1-yard run, the Reds added a 38-yard touchdown pass, and Cody Stevenson, Cedar’s kicker, kicked a 21-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining before halftime.

North Sanpete answered early in the third quarter. Trevor Mann, a senior running back, broke an 80-yard touchdown run at 11:45, and Lee’s two-point pass tied the game at 17.

Cedar scored the next 31 points. DeMille ran for touchdowns of 2, 37 and 15 yards, running back Gavin DeMille added a 7-yard scoring run, and Stevenson kicked a 27-yard field goal.

North Sanpete’s final score came with 1:09 left in the game, when Lee hit wide receiver Milo Hendry on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Pollock kicked the extra point.

For Cedar, DeMille finished with 243 yards on 23 carries and four touchdown runs. ste Trevor Mann of the Hawks completed 9 of 13 passes for 98 yards and ran 12 times for 120 yards.

Hunter Burgess caught five passes for 66 yards for Cedar, while Stevenson kicked two field goals and six extra points, and the Reds rushed for 373 yards on the way to their second straight region win.

For North Sanpete, Mann led the team with 215 rushing yards. Lee completed 6 of 12 passes for 53 yards and ran eight times for 46 yards. Hendry caught two passes for 32 yards, Seth Burningham caught two for 10 yards while Trace Dalene nabbed one for 11 yards.

Trexon Madsen and Mckray Beesley each made eight tackles. Jesse Nuttall had seven, including a sack.

North Sanpete (4-2, 1-2) had won three of its previous four games, including a 21-13 victory over Canyon View on Sept. 11. The Hawks host Carbon (1-5, 0-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. in a 3A South game. The Dinos lost 55-7 to Juab in a game suspended Friday by lightning and completed Saturday morning.