After two late, empty chances, Roy High football falls to Alta 13-9 in 5A quarterfinals
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- Roy’s Joseph Cariaga III (7) runs the football against Alta in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Alta’s Toatele Afu, right, celebrates scoring a touchdown as Roy’s Cole West (2) looks on in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Robert Young (5) signals after recovering a muffed Alta punt catch in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Cole West (2), Hunter Webb (19) and Maxx Johnson (22) converge to tackle an Alta player in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Robert Young (5) rushes the football against Alta in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Kili Eleneke (21) holds up the ball after intercepting an Alta pass in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Jake Viers (3) and Hunter Webb (19) celebrate Kili Eleneke’s (21) interception in a 5A quarterfinal against Alta on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Alta’s Siosaia Leni Lapuaho (77) and Leka Tuakoi (11) react in disbelief after Roy made a long field goal in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Alta’s Tony Vainuku (3) tries to bat the throw of Roy’s Joseph Cariaga III (7) in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Alta’s Matt Mckea throws the football against Roy in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Robert Young, right, throws a halfback pass in front of Alta’s Graham Peizge-Fo’ou Mailei (2) in a 5A quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
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- Roy High students cheer during a 5A quarterfinal against Alta on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, in Roy.
ROY — Legendary NFL coach John Madden is credited with saying, “if you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”
That was not the case for Roy High football much of this season as the Royals won the Region 5 championship and earned a No. 3 seed in the 5A state tournament, successfully rotating senior Joseph Cariaga III and junior Dru Gardner along the way.
But against a tough, physical No. 11 Alta squad, the Royals were unable to generate any semblance of an offense and fell in the quarterfinals 13-9 on Friday night.
Trailing by the final score, Roy had two goal-to-go series in the fourth quarter and scored zero points.
“We couldn’t sustain any kind of rhythm offensively on drives where we thought we could get points. Whoever had the hot hand would get those opportunities. We tried to do what would work the best for us and came up a little short,” Roy coach Chris Solomona said. “I give credit to their defense. They have some great athletes on their side.”
All the game’s points were scored in the first half and Roy’s defensive penalties kept the first Alta drive alive, one that eventually ended with a touchdown. The Royals committed four offside penalties that aided Alta’s methodical march down the field.
“We were a little undisciplined with some of those (penalties) and they took advantage of those. I thought we corrected it in the second half. Then we had some chances on offense and just didn’t capitalize overall,” Solomona said.
With the exception of one drive, the most plays Roy ran on any one possession was eight, and that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Colby Frokjer with 4:25 left in the second quarter.
On the one “sustained” drive that rolled over the end of the third quarter and to the beginning of the fourth, Roy ran three plays and punted, but the ball touched an Alta player on the return and the Royals recovered at the Hawks 29.
Seven plays later, Roy (9-3) had a first and goal at the 1-yard line and failed on four straight runs to get the go-ahead score.
“The calls were good. They won the battle up front in the trenches and were able to get those key stops,” Solomona said. “I have full confidence in our offense, getting the job done and getting in there. (Alta) has a big, strong defensive line. They came prepared and stopped us when they needed to.”
Roy’s other failed fourth-quarter foray into the red zone concluded on a missed field goal by Aidan Hart with 4:47 remaining. The Royals never got the ball back as Alta ran out the clock.
Alta’s 13-9 lead at the half held up, with an interesting twist to start the game, balancing both ends of the scale.
Robert Young returned the opening kickoff 98 yards to give the Royals a 6-0 lead, taking just 17 seconds of the first quarter.
The Hawks (10-3) countered with an arduous 14-play drive of 8 minutes, 3 seconds — assisted by the penalties — that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Matthew Mckea to Anthony Cottis, making it 7-6 with 3:37 left in the period.
Following a Roy punt, Alta expanded its lead to 13-6 when Mckea connected for his second TD toss, this one a 13-yarder to Toatele Afu.
Roy only ran four plays from the line of scrimmage the entire first quarter.
An exchange of interceptions in the second stanza stalled both offenses, with the only points coming on the 47-yard Frokjer field goal for the Royals.
In another thing you don’t see every day, Young touched the ball on the first and last plays of the half, bookending his opening scoring dash to paydirt with a pick in the endzone, closing the second quarter.
“We knew coming in we had to have great energy the entire game, knew it going to be a four-quarter battle,” Solomona said. “They made more plays than us today.”