ROY -- On a night when Roy High honored one of football's most offensively accomplished players, the Royals failed to find a way to put any points on the scoreboard.
Credit the Box Elder defense, however, as the Bees forced six Roy turnovers -- including five in the second half -- to earn a 17-0 win in the Region 5 opener
for both teams.
The Royals were looking to get a win to match their best start since 1990 and welcomed former Roy quarterback Jim McMahon for the occassion to have his jersey retired. Both McMahon and his former BYU coach LaVell Edwards addressed the overflow crowd at halftime.
The moment couldn't distract the Bees.
"Our defensive coaches did an awesome job putting a game plan together and the kids just played their butts off," Box Elder coach Robbie Gunter said. "We
tried to feed off (the hoopla) a little bit. That was some great energy."
Both sides were stellar on the defensive side of the ball with Box Elder allowing only 133 yards of total offense to the Royals, while Roy was stingy as well, giving up 146 yards.
Sloppy turnovers by the Royals provided Box Elder with great field position and accounted for all 17 of its points.
The Bees got on the scoreboard early in the first quarter following a fumble by Jake Trujillo at the Roy 20. Five plays later quarterback Britton Gunter found
the end zone from a yard out. A two-point conversion made it 8-0 with 8:15 to play in the opening period.
The two squads battled to a draw for the rest of the first half, however the Royals had a chance to regroup following the lengthy halftime ceremony.
Any momentum was short-lived, as the Royals fumbled the kickoff to open the second half and gave Box Elder possession at the Roy 12. The Bees converted the opportunity into a 32-yard field goal by Trevor Cobbley.
On Roy's ensuing possession, Box Elder's active defense once again struck when Breckin Gunter stripped Roy running back Jace Weaver of the ball in stride and returned the fumble 42 yards for a touchdown to put the Bees on top 17-0 less than four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Roy threatened to break into the scoring column with three possessions within the Bee 25-yard line during the remainder of the contest, but failed to convert,
as two of the drives ended in turnovers.
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