ST. GEORGE — Local high school football coaches announced their selections for All Region 9 team and individual honors Thursday afternoon.
And 4A state and Region 9 champion Crimson Cliffs was well-represented on the large list.
“You don’t always see a sweep of most of the major MVP categories,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Wayne Alofipo told St. George News. “That speaks to the dominance on both offense and defense, that garnered the respect from the coaches.”
It wasn’t quite a clean sweep of individual awards but Crimson players accounted for four of the six top performers.
Mustangs quarterback Steele Barben was named Region 9 MVP.
Wide receiver Tyler West won Offense MVP and Crimson lineman Parker Andrus was tabbed Defense MVP.
And Crimson senior Ty Ottenschott was named Region 9 MVP kicker.
“Especially looking at the region, the way they won, the coaches just felt it was a deserving year for Crimson,” Alofipo said.
Crimson Cliffs finished 13-1 on the season, its lone loss to 6A Bingham in Week 2. The Mustangs cruised to a 33-0 win over Green Canyon to capture the 4A state crown.
The Mustangs were a perfect 6-0 in Region 9 games, outscoring their rivals by a combined 322-51. That’s an average victory margin of 45 points per game.
Four region teams managed a single touchdown in their contests against Crimson. Dixie was the only team to score two TDs against the Mustangs in a 56-14 loss.
Coaches voted on players and broke down the results on a team-by-team basis to determine All Region 9 honors.
The other two individual Region 9 MVP awards went to Desert Hills punter Cyrus Polu and Cedar’s return specialist TreDyn Elliott.
Following are the 2023 All Region 9 football awards according to coaches, team by team.
Crimson Cliffs Mustangs
Region 9 MVP: Steele Barben
MVP Offense: Tyler West
MVP Defense: Parker Andrus
Kicker: Ty Ottenschott
1st Team: Boston Adamson, Jacob Zarate, McKay Wright, McCord Christiansen, Jace Sweeten, Malakai Alofipo, Rowen Williams
2nd Team: Owen Peterson, Brayson Phillips, Mason Topalian, Brock Baker, Jordan Phillips, Brooks Jensen, Konner Kell, Scott Nisson
Honorable Mention: Easton Webster, Caden Garcia-Casey, Jack Morby, Kaden Hawes, Brayden Smith, Luke Childs, Darius Strickland
Snow Canyon Warriors
1st Team: Tag Gubler, Tegun Whitehead, Rylan Filipe, Tank Kelly, Ryder Holt
2nd Team: Semaj Thompson, Mattix Smithy, Makaio Swensen, JT Westbrook, Cael Johnson, Archie Threlfall
Honorable Mention: Bryce Barnes, Konrad Green, Gilly Sanchez, Will West, Kai Kaufusi, Diesel Smith, Ryder Ence, Max Reynolds
Desert Hills Thunder
Punter: Cyrus Polu
1st Team: Stuart Taufa, Tytan Mason, Ocean Taufa, Cyrus Polu, Jagger Shotwell
2nd Team: Bridger Flemming, Javiyen Cummings, Ryker Tuckness, Hudsen Bundy, Simon Fuailetolo
Honorable Mention: Davis Olsen, Dillon Rex, Jarom Wilkins, Austin Wintle, Beau Meredith, Alec Tafua
Dixie Flyers
1st Team: Junior Coughlin, Ran Sawyer, Aisa Lopati, Jaxon Barben, Jake Dombrowski
2nd Team: Anthony Crighton, Andrew Warden, Porter Fielding, Sylas Russell, KC Faaootoa
Honorable Mention: Milo Andres, Carter Vanlehn, Nash Owens, Caleb Cherry, Louie Bennett
Cedar Reds
Return Specialist: TreDynn Elliott
1st Team: Everett Kelling, JT Jeter, Koden Lunt
2nd Team: Spencer Bell, Ammon York, Noah Vega, Krew Giles
Honorable Mention: Noah Parker, Ian Pouha, Aiden Pouha, Dahgo Houchen, Devin Crenshaw, Jake Storie, Justin Anderson, Braxtyn Hascall, Jourden Raftery
Pine View Panthers
1st Team: Quincey Jones, Camden Smith
2nd Team: Brock Harris, Adam Moore, Caden Nelson
Honorable Mention: Boston Wilden, Carson Curtis, Seth Shumway, Braxton Linville, Matt Costa
Hurricane Tigers
1st Team: Kellan Pledger
2nd Team: Ethan Staples, Tovia Tuinea
Honorable Mention: Austin McRoberts, LJ Langston, Matthew Parry, Alex Stubbs, Curtis Barlow, Hunter Prince
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