Roy shakes off slow start in 51-17 rout over Woods Cross on the road

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WOODS CROSS — The Roy Royals made up for a scoreless first quarter (and back-to-back turnovers) Friday with 23 unanswered points and 51 points in the final three quarters to defeat the Woods Cross Wildcats 51-17 and move to 5-2 on the season.

"This team is starting to believe; they're starting to understand what they're capable of," Roy head coach Chris Solomona said. "And I'm just so proud of them."

Woods Cross led 3-0 after the first quarter, and Roy didn't score until a safety made it a 3-2 game early in the second quarter. The rest of the 23-0 run was made up of a rushing touchdown by Joseph Cariaga, a 35-yard made field goal by Aidan Hart, a 41-yard touchdown catch by Rhett Slater, and a 47-yard made field goal by Colby Frokjer.

The Wildcats scored their first touchdown with 5:16 left in the third quarter when quarterback Lock Smoot escaped for a 51-yard house call. But Roy immediately responded with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Dru Gardner to Robert Young.

Woods Cross managed one more score early in the fourth quarter on a Cash Henderson goal-line run before Roy rattled off 21 more unanswered points to end the game in dominant fashion.

"It's 1-0 every week. That's the mentality, that's the mindset: 1% better every day," Solomona said of expectations going forward. "They're starting to understand that if they trust each other, trust the coaches and what we have game-planned for them, you know, the sky's the limit."

Roy welcomes Viewmont next week, while Woods Cross tries to get back in the win column at Northridge. Box Elder still leads Region 5 with a 4-0 record after narrowly escaping with a 31-28 win at Viewmont Friday.