San Juan football players earn one last victory to cap amazing careers

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Seven San Juan High School football players who were part of the Broncos’ run of four straight state championships got one last opportunity to showcase their skills this past Saturday, June 28 in the 2025 Senior Bowl All-Star Game at Snow College.
Jaiten Knight, Jake Ivins, JD Palmer, Javin Montella, Branten Bethea, Owen Adams, and Brad Skow, who all recently graduated from San Juan High School, joined forces one last time to play with the South All-Stars in Ephraim.
It was a battle for bragging rights among some of the best senior football players from the 2024 season in the Utah 1A, 2A, and 3A classifications. The South team came out on top for the second year in a row in an exciting 20-16 battle at Terry Foote Stadium.
Not only did the seven Bronco players contribute greatly to the win, but most of the San Juan coaching staff was on hand and Barkley Christensen served as the head coach for the South All-Stars for the third straight year.
San Juan quarterback Jaiten Knight passed for 12 yards and one touchdown and was 2-for-10 on the night. He also ran the ball four times for 12 more yards.
JD Palmer caught the 11-yard touchdown pass from Knight. Jake Ivins had one catch for 13 yards and Javin Montella had a one-yard catch.
But it was the South defense that really got the job done against the North. An early Jake Ivins interception set the tone and eventually led to the South’s first touchdown of the night.
They made several key defensive plays to keep the North out of the end zone in big moments throughout the night.
Coach Christensen always enjoys coaching the All-Star game and the opportunity to see players who were rivals during the season join forces on the same team. He provided a summary of the game in a message to the San Juan Record:
“After falling behind 2-0 due to a first-play safety, Jake Ivins got an interception and gave the South offense the ball inside the North 20 yard line. Jaiten Knight then immediately hit JD Palmer on a running back slip play for our first touchdown. After the two-point conversion we were up 8-2.
“The South got the ball back right before the half and we scored on a fade ball with two seconds left. At the half the score was 14-2.
“Coming out of the half, our offense stalled and the North team got hot. They scored two unanswered touchdowns to go up 16-14 with seven minutes left in the game.
“But the South retook the lead with a Milford connection when quarterback Kilo Tsosie hit wide receiver Sadler Barnes with seven minutes left.
“The South squad got a big stop as JD Palmer continued to come up big on defense all night. Then we had a chance to get a first down and put the game away, but we failed on a fourth-down conversion.
“The defense stepped up big again and JD Palmer sealed the win with a sack on North Summit quarterback Jake Smith on our 30 with 30 seconds to go. Palmer was arguably the MVP of the game with his TD catch and huge key defensive plays.
“Jake Ivins had a couple catches and big tackles on defense. Javin Montella played both wide receiver and safety. Owen Adams played well at wide receiver. Branten Bethea had a great game at safety all night, and Brad Skow played both offensive and defensive line and helped our team big on both sides.”