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Roy's Hunter Webb (8) lifts up Zay Morris to celebrate a touchdown against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy defenders Ange Ahui (15), Logan Cella (0), Hunter Webb (8) and Robert Young (5) swarm Viewmont quarterback Titan Longson, center, in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy linebacker Ryan Foss (10) celebrates a fourth-down stop against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy receiver Zay Morris secures a pass that became a touchdown against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy receiver Zay Morris finishes a touchdown catch against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy receiver Zay Morris runs in a touchdown reception against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Viewmont's Jayson Dunroe, top, catches a football as Roy's Robert Young (5) tries to make a tackle in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy quarterback Dru Gardner throws a pass against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy's Logan Cella rushes the football against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy's Logan Cella (0) celebrates a touchdown with Kili Eleneke in a 5A state quarterfinal against Viewmont on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy players Ryan Foss (10), Carter Rudolph (77) and Hank Mullen (72) line up for a snap against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Roy's Robert Young carries the football against Viewmont in a 5A state quarterfinal Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Roy.

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

❮ ❯

ROY — Viewmont made two costly decisions Friday before the sun set on Durbano Field’s 5A state quarterfinal hosted at Roy High School.

First, the Vikings won the coin toss and deferred, giving the ball to Roy’s big-play offense to start the game. Second, Viewmont went for it on fourth down the first time it had the ball.

The No. 1 seed Royals cashed in on those decisions in the first five minutes and used that spark for a 43-29 victory, propelling Roy to the state semifinals for the first time since 2018.

“I’m just so proud of our guys,” Roy head coach Chris Solomona said. “It all starts with the players and if they’re meshing well, if they trust in the process, we have the coaching staff … our entire crew, I’m fortunate to have these guys with me.”

On the game’s third play, Roy’s Zay Morris and Viewmont’s Ryan Tillman took turns catching the same Dru Gardner pass — bobbled by Morris, then by Tillman, then Morris finally secured the sideline catch and ran the final 15 yards for a 53-yard touchdown reception.

Viewmont’s first series finished on a fourth-and-1 at its own 29. The Vikings tried to gain a first down, an unsuccessful try when Roy’s Jaxton Scoffield met Viewmont’s Benji Tolman in the hole for no gain on a handoff and a turnover on downs.

“It was unbelievable … up front, I still coach the defensive line and I just knew, I was like hey, it’s just a matter of time before it starts to really hit home for us,” Solomona said.

After Logan Cella helped erase two Roy penalties on a 36-yard dumpoff screen pass, the running back dashed the final 8 yards for a rushing touchdown and the Royals led 14-0 at the 7:24 mark of the first quarter.

Roy knew it couldn’t repeat the 14-0 hole it erased in the regular-season matchup with Viewmont (a 42-28 win) and instead made Viewmont play from behind.

“Our message was if we come out fast, we can put them away and it was just great to see,” Cella said.

For good measure, Roy turned away Viewmont’s journey across midfield when Kili Eleneke batted a fourth-down pass at Roy’s 40-yard line.

A 32-yard long-side fade from Gardner to Morris keyed another Roy touchdown drive capped with a 1-yard Robert Young scoring rush. Roy racked up 204 yards in the first quarter and took a 21-0 lead with 3:31 left in the frame.

Roy (11-1) advances to play No. 4 Timpview (8-2) after the Thunderbirds jumped Orem 42-8. Timpview played in each of Roy’s last two deep playoff runs; the T-Birds topped Roy in 2014’s 4A title game and the Royals beat Timpview in 2018 to advance to the 5A semifinals.

Those two face off at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. The classification’s top four seeds held as No. 2 Bountiful and No. 3 Brighton take the field after Roy-Timpview.

“The past two years, we’ve lost at home in a playoff game so finally getting over that hump and making it to Rice-Eccles is really huge for our confidence,” said Gardner, one of many seniors to have taken early-round losses in previous seasons. “It’s been really good but we know that the job’s not finished yet.”

The game wasn’t over there; Viewmont (8-4) got off the mat for a seven-play touchdown drive, finished on a 10-yard run by quarterback Titan Longson to get on the board before the first quarter expired.

After the first-quarter onslaught, the Vikings held Roy to a more modest 82 yards in the second quarter and stripped Morris picking up a first down inside Viewmont’s 10 late in the half. Jordan Jones recovered and Viewmont got the game to halftime at 24-7.

Even when do-it-all Young ripped a 60-yard run to open the second half, Viewmont didn’t fold. The Vikings walled up inside the 10 and Roy settled for Colby Frokjer’s second field goal of the game, a 29-yarder to make it 27-7 midway through the third.

Longson used that momentum to lead a return to the end zone, throwing to Drez Jensen for 25 yards and a 30-yard deep slant to Cache Tuia, the latter a touchdown to cut Viewmont’s deficit to 27-14.

Despite keeping Roy out of the end zone for two quarters’ worth of football, Viewmont couldn’t hold on from there. The Royals came right back with a seven-play, 65-yard drive capped when Gardner floated a perfect ball to Young on a corner route for a 24-yard touchdown, giving Roy a 34-14 lead after three quarters.

Using Frokjer’s second punt of the game that pinned Viewmont inside its own 10, sophomore linebacker Sam Smith soon had Longson wrapped up just inside the end zone on a pass play. Longson attempted to throw the ball away but couldn’t muster much on it, drawing a flag for intentional grounding.

Since the penalty occurred in the end zone, that gave Smith a sack and a safety for a 36-14 lead with 10:10 left in the game.

Roy ate five more minutes off the clock and methodically put the game away on a 58-yard field following the safety free kick. Young and Cella rushed the Royals into the red zone before Gardner threw his third passing touchdown, a 13-yard slant to Morris for a 43-14 score with 5:10 left.

Viewmont mounted a touchdown drive and a long-strike score against Roy’s backups, with Longson tallying a 2-yard touchdown throw to Drez Jensen and an 87-yard catch-and-run to Tillman to account for the final score.

Roy’s starters unofficially racked up 506 yards on 54 plays. Young (128) and Cella (102) each eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark with one rushing touchdown apiece. Young added 65 yards on four receptions.

Gardner threw 13 of 19 for 262 yards (204 in the first half). Morris totaled 108 yards on four catches, two going for touchdowns. Eleneke totaled 39 yards on three catches and added one defensive interception.

With the long, late TD, Longson eclipsed 300 passing yards for Viewmont.

ROY HONORS COACH FRED THOMPSON

Roy High honored longtime former coach Fred Thompson at halftime of the game. Thompson’s accomplishments in 20 years as a football, basketball and baseball coach at Roy were recited to the crowd before the school announced it will name its baseball field after Thompson, marking it with a ceremony in April 2025.

Thompson coached at Roy in various head and assistant capacities from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, first the head baseball coach and then the head football coach. He was also head baseball coach and an assistant football coach at Fremont and his son, Erik, just finished his 21st season as a head football coach (13 at Northridge, eight at Ogden).