San Juan football earns first win of season with domination in Beaver

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School football team was left with a bitter taste in their mouths after a tough season-opening loss to Grantsville on August 14.
The Broncos were determined to fix the mistakes they made against the Cowboys and get in the win column for the first time this season against an equally tough Beaver team in game two this past Friday, August 21.
They did just that. San Juan exploded for seven touchdowns and 52 points, dominating the Beavers by 30 points in a big win on the road.
One of the main keys was that the Broncos didn’t turn the ball over a single time after they lost it seven times against Grantsville. And the running game got in gear a little bit against Beaver.
The team ran for a combined 319 yards and six touchdowns after collecting just 133 yards against the Cowboys in the previous week.
Junior Brigg Palmer played a huge role in San Juan’s rushing attack this past Friday. He amassed a very impressive 261 yards on 21 carries and scored five of those six TDs.
Junior quarterback Beau Yeomans had 32 yards on five carries and tallied the other touchdown. In the passing game Yeomans was a very solid 13 of 15 with 189 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception against Beaver.
The game was hard fought and close for most of the first half. San Juan scored first on a two-yard run by Palmer, then Beaver answered to tie the game at 8-8 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.
It stayed that way until the second quarter when the teams traded touchdowns again. Beaver converted a fourth down to take the lead four minutes into the frame.
San Juan answered just a minute later when Yeomans scampered in from four yards out and the Broncos had the lead right back 16-14 with 6:56 remaining in the first half.
San Juan began to really establish their lead in the last 1:09 of the half when they tallied two touchdowns to stretch their advantage to 31-14.
First Brigg Palmer got his second TD of the night on another short run. Then, on one of the most exciting plays of the night, Yeomans threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Miken Keith who laid out to snag the ball in the back of the end zone on a stunning diving catch.
The Bronco defense set the tone early in the second half when they smothered the Beavers on their opening drive, forcing a three-and-out.
The San Juan offense took advantage to score their fourth unanswered touchdown on another Palmer short-yardage run, making the score 38-14.
Beaver made it interesting when they scored to make it 38-22 late in the third quarter, but the Broncos answered almost immediately on a 68-yard touchdown run by Brigg Palmer.
Palmer and the San Juan offense added one final TD for good measure with 4:48 left in the game to close out the victory. In addition to all the touchdowns in the game, new Bronco kicker Luke Jeppesen was a perfect 4-for-4 in point-after kicks.
Miken Keith led the receivers with 52 yards on two catches and the touchdown. Brigg Palmer had 51 yards on six receptions, Quincy Singer caught one pass for 44 yards, and Randall Black had four catches for 42 yards.
Defensively Thomas Hardin and Cam Adair were beasts. Hardin had 15 tackles in the game and Adair tallied 13. Brigg Palmer helped out with nine stops while Andrew Nielson and Trey Bradford added eight apiece.
The win brought back memories of what the Broncos have consistently accomplished over the course of the past five seasons, and head coach Barkley Christensen was visibly excited about it.
“Super proud of our guys,” he said in a postgame interview on StreamUtah.Live. “It’s a tough schedule, and that’s the way you respond after a loss.”
Christensen specifically gave compliments to his linemen who made the big running game possible in Beaver.
He also explained how the coaching staff made some roster moves to shake things up and challenge the upperclassmen after Beaver took the lead in the second quarter. He said they responded well to regain control of the game.
There has been much discussion this season about San Juan’s challenging schedule, and that will be on display for the third straight week when the Broncos hit the road for Kanab this Friday, August 28.
The Cowboys won the 1A Utah State Championship last season, so it will be a big showdown between two defending state champions in what promises to be one of the best games of the season.
Kanab brings a 2-0 record into the contest after opening the season with back-to-back blowout wins. They beat Emery 48-13 on August 14 and smoked North Sevier 52-0 this past Friday.
In fact, going back to the Cowboys’ hard-fought 46-32 loss at San Juan a year ago, Kanab has won 11 games in a row.
It should be a lot of fun. Tune in to Redrock 92 for radio or StreamUtah.Live for video of all the action live this Friday starting at 6:30 p.m.