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Roy High's football team gathers after a scrimmage at Layton High School on June 22, 2022.

PATRICK CARR, Standard-Examiner

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Roy High's Colby Dickson (12) celebrates a touchdown against Westlake in a 6A first-round playoff game Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, at Roy High School.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy High football head coach Chris Solomona addresses the team after a scrimmage at Layton High School on June 22, 2022.

PATRICK CARR, Standard-Examiner

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ROY — One way of examining Roy High football’s history is by dividing it into six different chapters. There’s the first chapter, when the school started playing football in 1965.

For the second chapter, Ernest “Ernie” Jacklin coached the Royals from 1970-81, a period punctuated by the 1981 4A state championship win over Bountiful. Jacklin remains Roy’s all-time winningest coach (79-44-1).

Then, chapter 3 saw Fred Thompson coach from 1982-93 with plenty of success (region titles in 1983, 1989-91) and struggles.

Chapter 4 saw a downturn from 1994-2010 — Fremont opened in 1994, it should be noted — with a combined record of 36-133.

Fred Fernandes came along in 2011 (chapter 5), accumulating a 77-39 record in 11 seasons with four region championships, a state title game appearance in 2014 and a 20-5 combined record against rivals Fremont, Weber and Bonneville.

Fernandes stepped down in March for Bingham High School, where he’ll teach and be the football team’s offensive coordinator under his longtime defensive coordinator at Roy in Eric Jones, who is now Bingham’s head coach.

Now, Roy’s book has turned to chapter 6.

Chris Solomona is Roy’s new head coach, Jake Gallegos is the new defensive coordinator and Connor McGuire is the new OC. Those three replace Fernandes, Jones and Luke Hobbs, respectively.

The player ranks also look vastly different with many key starting spots to replace, making Roy a young, inexperienced group.

There were also high-impact transfers. Most notably, highly touted running back Kobe Bennett went to Syracuse and linebacker/fullback Cooper Valencia went to Bingham.

Senior left tackle Cole Millward said Roy has a “chip on its shoulder” this year because of supposed outside perception about the team after all the departures.

“A lot of our coaches left, a few players left, so everyone thinks we’re not going to be anything,” Millward said.

Millward is probably the most visible player on the team, holding three college scholarship offers so far — New Mexico State, Portland State and Idaho State — along with interest from several more programs, including Weber State.

He anchors the offensive line which, along with the D-line, is where most of Roy’s returners reside. But though there’s change, a lot is the same for the Royals.

They still wear black and gold, they’re still probably going to be undersized compared to most of their opponents and they’ll still probably have one of the better fan turnouts in Northern Utah.

What those fans will see is a young and inexperienced group, but Solomona said he’s loved what he’s getting from the younger players this summer.

“And I let them know things are open, it’s open and there’s no one that’s solidifying any position,” Solomona said.

The skill positions will have the most newcomers in 2022.

There’s been a four-person race for quarterback among senior Jaydan Hurt, sophomore Dru Gardner, sophomore Colby Frokjer and freshman Sam Smith.

At running back, another handful of players — junior DaeQwan Snider, junior Maxx Johnson and sophomore Logan Cella among them — are in the mix.

“The best guys are going to play. We really feel good about the players that are stepping in. Very young, but understanding their role,” Solomona said.

The way the schedule opens doesn’t help the Royals: a road game at powerhouse American Fork, and a home, televised game against rival Fremont.

“We have a lot of young sophomores who haven’t played a varsity football game yet. The speed’s different, they hit harder, plus Region 2 is not like Region 1 football. Everyone’s big, everyone’s coming for your head, we just gotta stay humble,” senior defensive end Alex Johnson said.

The past few years as the Royals have been playing in 6A, they’ve routinely showed up to games with far fewer players on the sideline than their opponents, but Roy players always had this sort of quiet confidence and edge about them that they knew they could do well no matter who was in front of them.

Millward and Johnson conveyed both of those emotions.

WHAT’S NEW

Most of the coaching staff.

Also, Roy will debut a new uniform on Aug. 19 against Fremont.

QUOTABLE

Left tackle Cole Millward was asked what game was circled on the calendar.

“Fremont.”

FACTS and FIGURES

2021 season: 7-4, 5-1 Region 2. Last year was another typically successful year for Roy: undersized, undermanned, yet still winning more than losing even with the transition to Region 2. For the second year in a row, Roy lost a home playoff game on the final play. In 2020, it was a walk-off kick return touchdown against West. Last year, it was a game-winning field goal by Westlake.

2022 strength of schedule: 41-67 (.380). The openers are tough: at American Fork and home to Fremont. Roy has four straight home games starting with Fremont on Aug. 19. The toughest stretch is Sept. 9-23 when Roy has West at home, followed by Kearns and Farmington on the road.

Players to watch: Cole Millward (OL), Alex Johnson (DE/FB), Cole West (WR/S), Ben Angulo (DL), DaeQwan Snider (RB/KR), Cade Draper (OL)

Returning starters: 4 offense, 4 defense

Strength/Weakness: Experience and depth up front/Inexperience everywhere else

NOTES

Roy has 10 straight seasons of finishing .500 or better, starting in 2012.

Roy has won 10 straight games against Clearfield (last loss in 2009).

The last time Roy beat West was in the first round of the 1977 playoffs (21-6) — granted, this year will be just the sixth time the teams have met. West leads the series 3-2.

In their first year at the helm, previous Roy head coaches have an average season record of 3.1 wins and 6.5 losses. Only one first-year Roy coach has won any sort of playoff game, that being Mark Smith in 1994 in a play-in game over Northridge.

SCHEDULE

All games 7 p.m.

Aug. 12: at American Fork

Aug. 19: Fremont^

Aug. 26: Clearfield

Sept. 2: Hunter*

Sept. 9: West*

Sept. 16: at Kearns*

Sept. 23: at Farmington

Sept. 30: Cyprus*

Thur., Oct. 6: at Granger*

Wed., Oct. 12: at Taylorsville*

* — Denotes Region 2 game

^ — TV broadcast on KMYU-TV