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Box Elder's Jaxen Cool, center, nears a touchdown as Roy's TJ Allen (43) approaches in a Region 5 football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Box Elder running back Judd Howells (0) fights off Roy's Bryton Ketcham (13) for an eventual touchdown run in a Region 5 football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Roy High's Ryker Cordero (7) rushes the football against Box Elder in a Region 5 football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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Roy High receiver Luke Pebley (3) signals after a first-down reception against Box Elder, with teammate Ryker Cordero (7) celebrating, in a Region 5 football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Roy.

Photo supplied, Gordon Doxey

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ROY — It only took 14 seconds to turn a nondescript high school football game into a doozy on Friday night.

Box Elder led Roy 13-0 after a sedentary first half. Then, Korbin Jeppesen fielded the third-quarter kickoff and raced unscathed for a 99-yard touchdown.

Suddenly, the Bees were buzzing as the clock counted to 11:46.

“Honestly, I didn’t think it was as much me as it was my boys; I knew they were going to block and they gave me a gap,” Jeppesen said. “Hopefully, it hyped my boys up. I was excited about it, I know that.”

The teams combined for six touchdowns in the third period, then the Bees added a final score early in the fourth frame on the way to routing the Royals 49-14 in a Region 5 firestorm.

Judd Howells ran for two touchdowns and quarterback Kadyn Reyes also scored twice on the ground for the Bees.

Jaxen Cool and Bridger Richards had the other touchdowns for Box Elder.

The end result was what you might have expected with an undefeated Box Elder (5-0, 2-0 Region 5) squad steamrolling a Roy (0-5, 0-2) team which hadn’t won a game, but things didn’t start out that way.

Howells opened the scoring for the Bees on a 32-yard burst with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

“Shoutout to my O-line; praise them for everything. I was able to break outside and get that first touchdown,” Howells said.

Cool converted a 2-yard run midway through the second stanza, and that’s where things stood at the half with Box Elder up 13-0.

“Coach (Carson Mund) got a fire in us at halftime. He told us it doesn’t matter what the score is; it doesn’t matter what the record is, we can’t underestimate our opponent,” Jeppesen said. “We did come out and kind of rolled over on them, but we turned that around in the second half and did adjust.”

Jeppesen’s kick return made it 21-0 before Roy answered on a 5-yard touchdown run by Howie Howard with 9:24 left in the third quarter.

Then, to show how the game had turned on its end, Reyes scored from 14 yards out on what started as a quarterback keeper on a fourth-and-one, and ended up in paydirt.

“The center and the right guard and the right tackle all pushed me through. That’s the reason why,” Reyes said. “I just broke through because they made a perfect hole for me.”

Richards’ 9-yard run at the 5:24 mark made it 35-7 for the Bees.

Roy counter-punched when Howard scored his second TD of the game, on a 9-yard catch from quarterback Rock Speredon with 2:29 left.

“My line blocked well on the run,” Howard said. “On the pass, I was open and my quarterback threw it to my chest; just wide open. We wanted to get back in the game, but didn’t succeed.”

Back came the Bees on Howells’ second rushing touchdown, this time a 4-yarder, as the lead was again four scores, 42-14, late in the quarter.

“On that play, we were trying to put the nail in the coffin and end the game as quick as we could,” Howells said.

If that didn’t put it out of reach, Reyes tallied his second touchdown with 8:29 remaining when he sprinted 79 yards on another breakdown of the Roy defense.

“It was a read option and coach trusted me; I found an open space and ran as fast as I could,” Reyes said. “We started clicking on offense, meshing later in the game. I got more confidence going.”

Sometimes things get out of hand with no explanation, and that’s what happened in the third quarter Friday night.

“It was an odd event, because our defense doesn’t really get driven on that much. I don’t know what happened; my kickoff return kind of spurred both teams,” Jeppesen said. “Basically, coach Walker — he’s our quarterback coach — told us let them have the screen, but don’t let them take any shots.”

Mission accomplished, as Roy’s scores came on an eight-play drive and a six-play possession that started at the 50.