Roy wins title with tremendous second-half comeback
Roy High Royals celebrate after their win of the Region 5 Championship game against Sky View at Roy High on Thursday, October 23, 2014. Sky View lead the majority of the game until Roy took the lead with only six minutes left in the game. Roy defeated Sky View 36-32.
Roy High Royals celebrate after their win of the Region 5 Championship game against Sky View at Roy High on Thursday, October 23, 2014. Sky View lead the majority of the game until Roy took the lead with only six minutes left in the game. Roy defeated Sky View 36-32.
Roy High sophomore Tyler Eteuati scored a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the Region 5 Championship game against Sky View at Roy High on Thursday, October 23, 2014. Sky View lead the majority of the game until Roy took the lead with only six minutes left in the game. Roy defeated Sky View 36-32.
ROY — It’s not just the year of the Royals in baseball.
The Roy Royals dialed up trick plays during a wild fourth-quarter comeback to capture the Region 5 championship, defeating the Sky View Bobcats 36-32 in front of a raucous crowd Thursday at Durbano Field.
Roy scored two touchdowns in the span of 10 seconds to take its only lead with 6:35 remaining in the game. After senior quarterback Tyler Skidmore hit Cody Hobbs on a 32-yard scoring strike to cut Roy’s deficit to 32-29, the Royals recovered an onside kick at the Sky View 45-yard line.
On the next play, Skidmore tossed a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Jaden Brown, who threw a 45-yard bomb to Tyler Eteuati. Eteuati fought off his defender at the 5-yard line and found the end zone for the 36-32 lead, leading to Roy’s first region championship since 1991 and its first outright region title since 1976.
“We didn’t have that play in until this week,” Roy head coach Fred Fernandes said of the winning score. “I got an old training manual from Norm Chow way back when and it worked here too.”
Sky View held a 25-14 lead to begin the fourth quarter as Roy mounted a scoring drive. Skidmore completed 3-of-4 passes for 57 yards on the drive, leading to a delayed 3-yard quarterback keeper to cut the deficit to 25-20.
Roy attempted a two-point conversion and dialed up another of its many misdirections of the half. A toss to Jaden Brown was turned into a reverse as Brown tossed it to Nate Jones while being tackled. Jones found the edge and cut the lead to 25-22.
“We were getting our butts kicked,” Fernandes said about Roy’s decision to mix up the second-half play calling. “(Sky View) owned the line of scrimmage. They dominated it. We just made a few more plays, but they’re a good team and I think they’ll go deep (in the playoffs).”
With the 25-22 lead and 9:02 remaining, Sky View answered immediately when Garrison Beach connected with Bryce Mortenson for a 75-yard touchdown pass to temporarily regain the Bobcats’ two-score lead.
After an anemic first half offensively, Skidmore completed 7 of 13 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown in the second half to lead Roy to its first undefeated regular season in school history.
“Coach Fernandes put us in excellent positions,” Skidmore said. “We had some trick plays. You can live by them or die by them, thank goodness we lived by them today.”
The Royals’ ground game got the wheels greased to begin the second half, as Baby Tee Eteuati put the offense on his broad shoulders en route to 103 yards on 15 carries. Matty Matautia added 51 yards on eight carries.
For a time, it appeared Sky View running back Isaac Hermann would never be stopped. Hermann dashed for 147 yards on 21 carries before Roy’s defense came alive late to hold on to its lead.
The undefeated Royals will host a first round state playoff game either Oct. 31 or Nov. 1 and will take a little extra time to celebrate, according to Skidmore.
“We usually have a 24-hour rule, but we might extend this to 48 because we have a day off tomorrow.” Skidmore said. “But once we hit Saturday, we’ll be ready to go again.”