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Roy's Robert Young runs free for a long touchdown against Fremont on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Roy's Colby Frokjer, left, hauls in a touchdown reception against Fremont's Kaeden Posell (1) on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Fremont quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa (5) rushes against Roy defenders Sam Smith (24) and Riley Boudreau (4) on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Fremont's Zach Masters (6) outruns Roy's Hunter Webb (8) for a touchdown on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Roy's Logan Cella (0) totes the football past Fremont's Kamren Wolff (11) on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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ROY — All of the buzz about the Fremont-Roy football game being a big border battle is now gone with the insertion of the new West Field High squarely between the two schools.

But make no mistake, this rivalry is still a big deal to the players involved and their rabid fan bases.

“Nobody really went to West Field from our team, so we always talk more about Fremont,” Roy senior athlete Robert Young said. “Fremont will always be our rivalry until we get West Field on our schedule.

“Since my sophomore year, we’ve never lost to Fremont and we weren’t going to let it happen today.”

The Royals made sure of that, thumping their neighbors 50-16 in a non-region blowout on Friday night.

Roy already led 29-0 at the half when Young took the opening kick of the third quarter and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown, which brought on a running clock only 23 seconds into the second half.

“We don’t think about the clock … keep going and make sure we score more points,” Young said. “For the second half, the coaches said we can’t let up; keep the momentum going.”

Young actually fumbled the kickoff but, when things are going your way, it’s hard to reverse the trend. He raced left, cut up the sideline in front of the Roy bench and made it 36-0.

“When I do those kind of things, I just think ‘I’ve got to make this up somehow; get positive yards,'” Young said.

Senior quarterback Dru Gardner threw two touchdown passes, senior running back Logan Cella rushed for two scores (5 and 2 yards) and Young had three touchdowns (one run, one reception and the kickoff return) for the Royals.

“It was pretty good; it was exciting for me. I didn’t think I was going to do that tonight. I was just looking forward to playing my role,” Young said.

After the Royals had the game well in hand, Fremont (0-2) countered with back-to back touchdown passes by junior quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa. He tossed a 28-yarder to Zach Masters and a 2-yarder to Slade Parker.

Still not in danger and up 36-16, Roy tacked on two late touchdowns on an 8-yard pass from Gardner to Young and a 29-yard pass to Zay Morris by backup quarterback Rock Speredon.

Roy (2-0) built its 29-0 halftime lead with a pair of touchdowns in each quarter.

After a three-and-out by the defense, it only took the Royals four plays to reach paydirt when Cella scored from 5 yards away with 10:03 remaining in the first quarter.

A botched snap on the extra point attempt, where Young was the holder, led to a pass to Carsten Engberg and a two-point conversion. So the Royals led 8-0.

“It was a bad snap, so I just got up and yelled ‘fire,’ ran around until somebody was open and just threw the ball,” Young said.

Cella added his second touchdown with 2:27 left in the period on a 2-yard bull rush, pushing the margin to 15-0.

Both first-quarter touchdowns were set up by Rhett Slater. He returned the early Fremont punt 36 yards, giving Roy a first down at the Silverwolves 24 on the initial drive, then broke off a 56-yard play on a pass from Gardner to set up the second score.

Gardner connected with Colby Frokjer on a 9-yard touchdown toss midway through the second stanza and the rout was on as the lead mounted to 22-0.

Following a theme of broken plays that worked, Young then fumbled a handoff, recovered, and raced almost untouched for a 53-yard scamper to close the first-half onslaught for the Royals.

“I have no idea what happened; I just dropped the ball, picked it up and nobody was in my way, so I ran to the endzone and scored,” Young said.

While first-year Fremont coach Nate Tuatagaloa appreciates the gravity of the rivalry, he feels his team needs to be more competitive in upcoming games to get back on track.

“Roy has been giving it to us the last few years so I’m flattered they call it a rivalry. But until we can actually give them a competitive game, they’re the bar when it comes to around this area. They’ve set the bar pretty high,” Nate Tuatagoloa said. “I know the score doesn’t indicate it, but we’re a lot better than the week before. We know we can be so much better.

“I believe five games from now, it’s going to be a different conversation.”

Roy’s Gardner finished 7 of 10 for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Hunter Grahn rushed 12 times for 81 yards, and Young had two carries for 79 yards. Cella led with seven tackles and Hunter Webb had six, with two for loss.

For Fremont, Manase Tuatagaloa was 10 of 30 for 82 yards with two touchdowns through the air and added 57 yards on 11 carries. Masters caught three balls for 48 yards. Kamren Wolff and Krew Hassell each had five tackles.

Weber County rivalries continue in Week 3 when Roy hosts Weber for the Shield Game in a battle of 2-0 teams, while two teams looking to break into the win column play in Plain City when Fremont hosts Bonneville.