ST. GEORGE — Something special might be happening at Pine View.

After compiling a 3-16 record over the past two seasons, former Panther KJ Boyer enters his third campaign as head football coach with every reason to expect a breakout year.

With a dynamic junior duo at quarterback and tight end, along with a veteran offensive line that reflects Pine View’s traditional size up front, the Panthers are primed to score points.

“The offense really clicked today. They cleaned up a lot of stuff and made the defense’s life a little bit harder,” Boyer told St. George News after practice Monday night. “So I’m happy with where we’re at, going into our scrimmage week. We’ll just keep going from here.”

Tight end Brock Harris, listed at 6-foot-5 on last year’s roster, appears to have grown a couple more inches at least since he last stepped on Pine View’s field.

Harris will be collecting passes from quarterback Levi Shaw, who will have multiple weapons to work with on offense.

“We haven’t talked about records and stuff, but our chemistry has gone through the roof,” Harris said. “We’re on the same wavelength.”

Boyer noted that the Panthers have a variety of playmakers expected to step up.

“We’re not making it a whole offense based off one player. We got a lot of weapons,” Boyer said. “But Levi is so smart, and Brock, he just knows where to find it. They have a great connection. They understand one another.” 

Protecting Shaw and opening up passing lanes for Harris will be an offensive line that Boyer expects to be a strength of the team.

“They’re developing great,” Boyer said. “I’ve thrown a bunch of different fronts at them to get them confused, trick them up, and they’re talking, they’re communicating, and we’re seeing a lot of lanes for our running backs.”

Center Boston Willden and tackle Josh Bowler are just two of the seniors on an experienced Panthers offensive line.

Pine View opens the season on the road at Manti on Aug. 16. The 3A Templars went 10-3 last year.

Going into the game Harris said he hopes to see improvement out of the Panthers.

“Just keep getting better,” Harris said. “The O line needs to just keep working. They’re doing really good, they’re going to help us a lot this year. Just keep doing what we’re doing and we’re excited to play Manti. They’re a good team.”

A lot of the post-practice talk from Boyer and his coaches to the Panthers was about being smart with their social media use.

“We just live in a day where social media causes so much more bad than it is good,” Boyer said. “I don’t want a kid’s life to get ruined by a mistake, that they might not mean anything by, but because it’s out there, everybody sees it.”

He went on to say that he wouldn’t be doing his job as head coach if he didn’t teach his players about the dangers of inappropriate use of social media.

“As soon as that happens, your life changes,” Boyer said. “I would be more upset about that happening to a kid than I would be about losing any game in my entire life.”

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