There is ubiquitous saying in the Deep South that goes something like, “The South shall rise again.”

The quote is attributed to General Robert E. Lee after surrendering to the forces of the Union Army at Appomattox in 1865.

Some would say football is, in a sense, also a war.

This past week, Northern Utah, represented by the Utes of Uintah, met Southern Utah on the battlefield of Snow College in Ephraim.

The team representing the south, Dixie High School of St. George, rose up firmly for their first victory of the season on Friday. It came at halftime as the Flyers stole the momentum from the Utes, winning 49-20.

Uintah, 1-1 coming into the matchup, came to Snow College firing on all cylinders.

Dixie was first to score as the team drew blood on a 40-yard carry by Flyer running back John Matuato. That gave Dixie a 7-0 lead.

Uintah came right back, though, posting an impressive offensive drive off by Kalin Leyba, Tanner Seitz and Jarin Daggett.

The Utes drive, which began almost immediately after Dixie’s first points went on the board, lasted for nearly the entire first half and saw Uintah take an early lead of 13-7 going into halftime.

The lead for Uintah came by way of two field goals by Tanner Seitz — and a 39-yard touchdown return off an interception by Daggett.

“I’m not sure what the call was, but Daggett read it right and was there to grab it. He ran it back for the touchdown and it really got us excited,” said assistant coach Jayme Leyba.

SECOND HALF

The game was truly a tale of two halves as the Flyers came back with a vengeance, scoring 28 points in the third quarter alone — and another 14 points in the fourth quarter.

A fumble on the snap by Uintah in the opening minutes of their offensive drive gave the ball right back to Dixie — and changed the tone of the game.

Coach Leyba said the fumble was a big factor, and summarized the first half as being far different than the first.

“I think, in the first half, we were flying to the ball and we were fresh. They had a big turnover which we capitalized on and we had momentum. I hate to put the whole game on one play, but we had a fumble right out of the gate and they got the momentum right back,” said Leyba.

Injuries were also a factor in the game with senior Jarom Tollefson coming out on an apparent hit to his left knee.

“Jarom is the only one that came out for the game, but we some injuries on special teams too. Luckily, they weren’t two-way players,” added Leyba

Dixie’s 28 point tour-de-force came off a combination of Matuato and running back Wyatt Gatchell in the third. Matuato was their strongest offensive force of the night, making three short gainer touchdowns in quick succession.

Gatchell sealed the third quarter — which was scoreless for Uintah — on a breakout 54-yard rushing touchdown. That Dixie TD made it 35-13 in favor of the squad from St. George.

The fourth quarter held just as much lack of offense for the Utes, as the Flyers added to their lead on a 1-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Blake Barney. That made it 43-13 in the opening minute of the fourth.

Uintah’s returned hard with a 6-play, 79-yard offensive drive that was only marred by an interception of Leyba at the Dixie 1-yard line.

With Dixie taking over again at their own 26-yard-line, the Flyers put together another 9-play drive that culminated in a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Tadd Challis. That made it 49-13 for Dixie.

The Utes were not ready to go down with a whimper, however, as Leyba and the offense engineered a 65-yard drive from their own 35-yard-line.

Uintah’s big break in the last moments of the fourth quarter as Dixie was called for pass interference against Emery Merkley. That call against the Flyers brought the ball up to the 9-yard line and set up a second-and-goal for the Utes.

After initially overthrowing a pass to Ute receiver Christian Connolly, Leyba found his mark on a five-yard touchdown pass which Connelly caught for a Uintah score.

With a final score of 49-20, both Uintah and Dixie register 1-2 records on the season.

Utes quarterback Kalin Leyba says the second half was a far different game than the first half.

“In the second we came out flat. We gave them a short field and with that they scored on it. We needed to put a good drive together coming out and that just didn’t happen tonight,” said Kalin.

Uintah faces off in their annual grudge match against Union on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ute Stadium.