‘Long time coming’: Box Elder hoists first outright region football title in 23 years
Stout defense, backfield too much for West Field in 28-7 loss at region champ Box Elder on Friday
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- Box Elder’s Judd Howells (0) dives past West Field’s Phoenix Sandoval (5) for a touchdown during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- West Field’s Caden Judy (0) pushes forward while Box Elder tacklers Tayson Wylie (7) and Luke Meyer (33) bring him down during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder quarterback Kadyn Reyes runs for a touchdown against West Field during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s Cammon Bushnell (1) tries to wrap up West Field’s Andrew Combe (3) during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s Bracken Hester (18) puts his foot into a kickoff against West Field during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s Judd Howells (0) cuts through West Field defenders Chaz Barker, bottom, and Owen Hadley (7) during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- West Field’s Elijah Woods hauls in a sideline catch against Box Elder during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- West Field’s Brenen Buckway (23) totes the football as Box Elder’s Jackson Lifferth (10) leans in for a tackle during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder running back Judd Howells carries the football during a Region 5 football game against West Field on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- West Field’s Andrew Combe (3) tries to move past Box Elder’s Bracken Hester (18) during a Region 5 football game Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s football team takes the field before a Region 5 football game against West Field on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- A football rests on a tee during a prep football game Oct. 16, 2026, in Brigham City. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
Editor’s note: The UHSAA releases its state football playoff brackets for all classifications on Saturday at 10 a.m.
BRIGHAM CITY — If you’d hung around the Box Elder football team on Friday night, you’d have thought the Berlin Wall had just fallen.
It’s good times up north for the Bees, headed for the postseason as outright region champions for the first time since 2003. Box Elder last obtained a share of a region title in 2018, but now, three seasons into the job, head coach Carson Mund has his first.
The Box Elder graduate, who returned to replace longtime veteran Robby Gunter as head coach in 2024, quickly raced from the locker room dance party to the south goalpost for a team picture with a region trophy that’ll surely set the bar for years to come.
Box Elder put on a 28-7 defensive clinic that kept West Field from realizing its first region football title in its third season as a program.
“It’s been a long time coming for Box Elder,” Mund said. “We’ve been close, I don’t know how many times since 2003, but we’ve been there so many times and we just haven’t been able to get over that hump. This is a good game for us to win in hopes of carrying that on into late November.”
Hard-nosed rusher Judd Howells led Box Elder’s dynamic ground game with three rushing touchdowns (quarterback Kayden Reyes had the other on the team’s first offensive series) on a night when West Field (7-3, 5-1) simply failed to meet the Bees (9-1, 6-0) at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s a huge part of our offense,” Mund said of Howells. “But it’s never about just one guy. It’s always about us being ours, and these guys have fought for each other. Judd had a heck of a night, and I’m proud of him. Kayden Reyes, our O-line, and our receivers … the best thing they’ve done is stay together. … They’re a band of brothers.”
West Field, playing tight to the football for the first few snaps, revealed a 6-foot-wide hole that Reyes seized like a bat out of hell, flying 51 yards for the score.
“Our misdirection is just really good,” Reyes said. “They never know if it’s me or Judd, or if I want to pass the ball. It’s just a really good scheme that we have going on.”
The Longhorns marched downfield and looked to score on the night’s opening drive, but a bad snap saw quarterback Easton Eilertson and his offense chalk up the game’s first turnover into the hands of Bees’ senior linebacker Thomas Morrill near the goal line.
Morrill, Luke Meyer and Jaxon Jeppsen made themselves staples in Box Elder’s pass rush, and, getting to Eilertson often, eliminated West Field’s quarterback run. The unit also kept skilled tailbacks Elijah Woods and Caden Judy under wraps for a first-half shutout.
“We’ve wanted it since we were little,” Meyer said. “We had a plan, and we executed it. We planned for everything, we watched film, we were ready for (West Field).”
The lockdown defensive showing won the praise of his quarterback, too.
“I think that’s one of the best defensive performances we’ve played all year,” Reyes said.
Reyes, a senior, is chasing the postseason now in hopes of keeping his Box Elder football days alive a little longer. A region title, though, lives in the record books for good.
“I’ve always wanted this for Box Elder,” Reyes said. “We haven’t won it in 20-plus years, so it’s just such a big thing for the program and everything.”
After a discouraging start, West Field’s defense clamped down on Box Elder, subject to multiple penalties in the final series before halftime. An offensive penalty canceled a 22-yard touchdown catch by Cole Bushnell, and Longhorn junior Alden Jensen broke through to sack Reyes, setting up a missed 51-yard field goal try by Tytan Hupp.
Doubling down, West Field’s defense bought its offense a stop on the first drive back to begin the third quarter, and Eilertson, on a down after taking a sack for a 3-yard loss, found the end zone with his legs from 13 yards away.
But it’d take just three plays for Howell to warm up his legs again and take the ball 44 yards for his second touchdown.
Rolling after the score, Box Elder got its hands back around the football for a 5-minute scoring drive (Howells punched in a 4-yard touchdown run) to signal the end.
“We’re not a big team but, to our guys’ credit, they do a good job fighting,” West Field head coach Eric Jones said. “I feel like we get the most out of them that we possibly can, and they create some opportunities in the run game and pass game. We were able to put a few things together, but in the end, Box Elder was too good.”
He continued:
“I just felt that opening drive, us getting into a good rhythm, marching down the field, getting on the doorstep, and then the turnover — we never really recovered from that momentum swing,” Jones said. “You kind of see that time and again in big-game situations. It’s hard for teenagers to overcome that mentally.
“I didn’t have the boys prepared enough to face that adversity. I felt like we got outcoached tonight and didn’t have our boys ready. Credit to Box Elder; they’re coached extremely well.”
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standadexaminersports.
