Broncos win 29th in a row at Summit Academy, can match school record with victory this week

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Though the San Juan High School football team is self-admittedly not at the top of their game yet this season, they have cruised through the first four games of their two-time defending state championship season.
The most recent win by more than 20 points came against the Summit Academy Bears this past Friday, September 1 in Bluffdale, UT. It was the team’s state-leading 29th in a row.
The Broncos beat their hosts by a score of 47-22 in a game where Summit Academy never truly threatened and San Juan lead by double digits for most of the very windy night.
In San Juan’s first four games they’ve outscored their opponents 214-71 and have out-gained them in offensive yardage 2,193-1,216.
Against the Bears this past Friday the Broncos opened with two touchdowns in the first quarter and, though their lead was trimmed to one score early in the second, added three more to take a 33-7 lead into halftime.
Summit scored early in the second half to cut the San Juan lead to 33-14. But the Broncos added two touchdowns of their own in the third quarter to keep the Bears at arms length.
Senior quarterback Parker Snyder had another outstanding night, passing for 327 yards and four touchdowns. He was 21 of 28 for 75 percent.
Snyder also led the Broncos’ running attack, rushing for 92 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Senior running back Zack Conway scored a touchdown as well, but he was held to just 63 yards on 14 carries.
Most of Conway’s damage to the Summit Academy defense came through the air. He caught three Snyder passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Junior wide receiver Jake Ivins led the team with 124 yards on eight catches and a TD. Anthony Done and Javin Montella caught the remaining two touchdowns.
Trace Bennett paced the defensive effort with 13 tackles while Jake Ivins collected ten. Jaiten Knight, Parker Snyder, and Brody Bilbao all made seven stops apiece. Ivins registered the team’s only sack on the night.
For the season Snyder has 1,125 passing yards, which is 12th-most in the nation, with 11 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 353 yards and eight touchdowns.
Jake Ivins leads the team with 256 yards receiving on 18 catches and three TDs, but Zack Conway is right behind with ten receptions, 252 yards, and two scores.
Anthony Done has caught 19 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Brigham Nielson has 153 yards on 11 catches and a TD and Javin Montella has eight catches for 143 yards and two TDs.
Zack Conway has been held relatively quiet in the running game for the past two contests, but still leads the team with 484 yards on 55 carries and ten touchdowns.
Defensively, Jake Ivins leads the team with 40 tackles. Trace Bennett and JD Palmer have 32, Jaiten Knight has 29, and Jordan Duke has 26.
Knight has four sacks on the year; Conway has two; and Palmer, Taylor Black, and Ivins have one apiece. The defense is averaging almost three takeaways per game with four seven fumble recoveries and four interceptions.
The first 2A RPI standings of the season were released by the Utah High School Activities Association earlier this week and, not surprisingly, the Broncos sit at the top. They are the only undefeated team in the classification.
Maybe a little surprising is the fact that San Juan’s opponent this week, Judge Memorial Catholic, is ranked second. “Mathematically placed” would be a more accurate term than “ranked” when it comes to the RPI. It’s not likely it will stand through the season, but at least for this week the San Juan vs. Judge Memorial matchup is a battle between the #1 and #2 2A teams in the state.
Incidentally the Broncos can match their school-record win streak of 30 games set in 2009-2010 with a victory over the Bulldogs.
They’ll have to do it on the road. San Juan departs for their fourth lengthy road trip of the young season on Friday, September 8. They’ll stop in Salt Lake City this time to take on Judge Memorial.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and as always we’ll have all the action live on Redrock 92 and Picture It Palmer (streamutah.live) starting with the pregame at 6:30.