San Juan advances to fourth-straight semifinal appearance with easy win over Judge Memorial

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Though the San Juan High School football team has lost two games this season, nobody in their own league has come anywhere close to challenging them.
The loss to 3A Grantsville to open the regular season and the loss to 4A Hurricane that ended it were definitely hard knocks and opportunities to learn and grow.
But in the meantime the Broncos outscored all their 2A opponents by an average margin of 50 points per game, which could have been much larger if the junior varsity hadn’t played most of the second half in those games.
That did not change in the state quarterfinals this past Friday, November 1 in Blanding as San Juan began their quest for a fourth-straight state championship in earnest with a 60-12 victory over Judge Memorial.
As they have all year the Broncos exploded for 47 first-half points and cruised to the win with the clock running in the second half.
The offense was unstoppable, putting up five touchdowns through the air and three on the ground. JD Palmer added a kickoff return touchdown in the first half just for good measure.
Jaiten Knight completed 18 of his 24 pass attempts for 284 yards and he spread the love around with five different receivers catching one touchdown pass each.
Jake Ivins, Branten Bethea, Tripp Palmer, Owen Adams, and Javin Montella all tallied in the win. Ivins led receivers with 122 yards on five catches. Bethea had 71 yards, Tripp Palmer had 34, and Adams had 30.
The Broncos spread the running game around as well with all three ballcarriers within a few yards of each other. Knight led with 66 yards, Jagger Nieves had 63, and JD Palmer had 62. All three players scored one touchdown apiece.
JD Palmer’s 77-yard kick return touchdown in the first half solidified an already-underway domination by San Juan.
As they have all year, the Bronco defense was also dominant. They won the battle on the line easily, preventing Judge quarterback Adrian Palmer from having any options in the backfield.
George McNaughtan was especially on fire. Though San Juan never sacked Palmer, McNaughtan hurried him nine times in the game. Nieves had three hurries, as did Cash Palmer.
JD Palmer led the team with nine tackles in the win. Nieves collected five, and several players had three stops.
Before the game began San Juan Head Coach Barkley Christensen was concerned that some of his players were beginning to exhibit signs they were getting a little too certain that postseason wins are going to come easy.
But he was very satisfied how the team responded to his pregame coaching and showed him they can be properly mentally prepared from start to finish.
“There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and I think we were crossing that line,” Christensen said. “We’ve put in way too much work to be overlooking teams. Anybody can get you in the playoffs, so I was very proud of how they came out.”
Christensen was excited about the team’s effort from the beginning of the game through the end. “We were tackling way better,” he detailed. “We were physical, and that’s exactly what I wanted to see on offense and defense.”
With the win the Broncos improved to 9-2 on the season but, most importantly, they earned a trip to the 2A Utah State Semifinals for the fourth straight season.
They’ll play the #4 Delta Rabbits this Saturday, November 9 at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. San Juan beat the Rabbits 63-10 in Blanding on October 11.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. this Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on Redrock 92 Radio and there will also be an audio-only stream on StreamUtah.Live beginning at 12:30.