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ST. GEORGE — The first round of the 4A state playoffs kicked off Friday night with the Dixie Flyers defeating the home Pine View Panthers 48-35.
But the game was closer than the score made it seem.
Pine View countered every attack Dixie landed until the final minutes. Up by 7 as the clock ran out, Dixie's Tano Anzalone intercepted a pass for a game-clinching pick-six score that advanced the Flyers to the second round of the playoffs.
"Knowing that it could be your last game, especially for all our seniors, we really gotta just dial in the little things, little by little, more and more, and really hone in on what we need to work on," Anzalone said.
Ran Sawyer carried the Flyers with five rushing touchdowns, including a hat trick in the second quarter alone.
The Panthers battled Dixie's run game by taking to the air, and starting quarterback Levi Shaw threw for 310 yards — his highest total since August. He connected with six different receivers throughout the game while completing 78.6% of his passes.
When Pine View started the game by forcing Dixie into a turnover on downs, the offense took the field with the opportunity to get on the board first. The momentum sparked by the defensive stop helped the Panthers to their first touchdown of the game on a pass from Shaw to tight end Brock Harris.
As the first quarter turned into the second, the Flyers crept into Panthers territory, where Sawyer took care of business and tied the game 7-7.
Harris, a five-star recruit, put the ball right back in Dixie's hands when he fumbled before the Panthers could make up any ground on their next possession. The Flyers took the field on the Panthers' 27-yard line, and Sawyer found the end zone to take the lead.
The Dixie defense kept Pine View at a standstill and let Sawyer build the lead with a minute left in the half, making it 21-7.
Pine View tried to hurry downfield for one more score before the intermission, but the closest they got was a Shaw pass to Colt Falaniko in the end zone that resulted in illegal touching.
Coming back from the break, Pine View's Maka Fiefia took matters into his own hands and completed a fourth down conversion, followed by a 45-yard touchdown run, to keep the Panthers in it.
It took the Flyers less than three minutes to restore the two-score lead, though. This time, quarterback Wyatt Truman called his own number and ran it in to give Dixie a 28-14 edge.
The lead was gone as quickly as it came. Kwade Sorensen caught a pass from Shaw in the end zone for a touchdown to start a rally. The Panthers then executed an onside kick to perfection, and the offense ran back out with the ball in enemy territory. Corbin Yocham used his only carry of the game to tie it at 28-28 and keep the Panthers' season alive.
After a solid return by Bowen Ekins and an illegal hit to the head call against Pine View, Dixie got back to work at midfield. Sawyer put the Flyers back on top with his fourth score of the game, making it 35-28 as the final 12 minutes were put on the clock.
Fiefia was sent onto the field again to find a hole in the defense, but instead he found Harris for a 5-yard touchdown pass, knotting the score once more.
A failed attempt at recreating the magic of their first onside kick attempt gave Dixie the ball on Pine View's 36-yard line. The Flyers worked their way to a fourth-down and goal on the 1-yard line, where Sawyer capped off his impressive night with touchdown No. 5.
The Panthers stayed determined until Shaw took a hit to the head that silenced the crowd. He eventually walked off under his own power following a lengthy injury timeout, but he did not return to the game and Pine View's energy had shifted. Sophomore Brooks Clark was put in as Shaw's replacement and made two attempts at the end zone, the second of which gave Anzalone his pick-six and ended the Panther's 2024 campaign.
"They ran the same two plays in a row," Anzalone said. "In the play before, that same route was wide open, and I knew they were gonna run the same play. So I almost ignored my assignment and went and made a play on the ball and got the game sealed for us."
Dixie will continue on the path to the championships next week as they head to Provo to take on the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs. The two programs have not met since 2012 when the Flyers won 55-14 in St. George.
