Skyridge rolls to 42-15 win over Roy, earns 2nd consecutive 5A championship appearance

SALT LAKE CITY — For the second consecutive season, the Skyridge Falcons have advanced to the 5A football championship game after defeating the Roy Royals 42-15 Friday. It’s the second time in Skyridge’s three years as a school that they’ve appeared in the championship game.

“It’s rare and awesome,” Skyridge head coach Jon Lehman said. “I’m proud of the efforts of these guys.”

The Falcons scored first in the morning game on a six-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off with a 9-yard scamper up the middle by senior Ma’a Notoa. Skyridge quarterback Jayden Clemons was instrumental in the early score with a 37-yard QB-keeper run that put the Falcons just outside the red zone.

Clemons would finish the game as the team’s leading rusher with 130 yards and one touchdown on 21 attempts. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry, as he paced his team to a semifinal win. Clemons also added 184 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-21 passing.

Skyridge would go on to score 28 more points in the first half as they distanced themselves from the Royals who struggled to put together sustainable drives for much of the half. The Skyridge defense kept the Royals from having much success on offense by forcing two fumble — one of which was recovered by Skyridge — and holding Roy to only 90 total yards on offense in the first half.

The Royals’ only score of the half came on a 60-yard passing play in the first quarter, as quarterback Jaxson Dart found a streaking Dionte Davis for a deep pass downfield in stride for the strike and score. Similar plays were available to the Royals later in the half, as Skyridge’s secondary couldn’t keep up with Roy’s speed, but Dart narrowly missed on overthrows.

Although the Falcons jumped out to a big lead in the first half with everything seemingly clicking, Skyridge stalled in the second half and only managed a late-game touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard rushing touchdown by Clemons.

The Falcons started off the third quarter with two turnovers, including an intercepted pass at Roy’s 30-yard line. The Royals would march down the field to complete a 2-yard pass to Cade Harris on the inside corner of the end zone for their only other score of the game. The Royals would then convert on a 2-point conversion attempt to make it 35-15.

Lehman said his team remained disciplined in the second half even when the offense wasn’t clicking as well and did just enough to hang on and claim the victory.

“We held on and finished with a 42-15 victory, and we’ll take that,” he said.

“It’s very rewarding,” Clemons said. “We put in a lot of work and it feels really good paying off.”

Roy attempted to make a late-game run but the officials ruled a ball short of the marker on fourth down just inside Skyridge’s 30-yard line. After a brief measurement, the official ruled a turnover on downs and Skyridge ball. A replay of the play on the video board at Rice-Eccles Stadium, however, showed what appeared to be the receiver beyond the marker for a first down.

Roy coach Fred Fernandes marched onto the field and criticized the officials for the short spot and pointed to the video replay that was paused on the downed receiver. Fernandes would get penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct and was ejected from the game.

Fernandes would later say that there was a miscommunication on the field between him and the official, and it snowballed from there. But Fernandes did recognize his error for coming onto the field. Still, there is no video replay on calls in high school, so whatever the officials called was the ruling on the field.

Skyridge will play the winner of the Olympus-Corner Canyon matchup that followed in the afternoon. The winner of that game will enter the championship undefeated and ready for a Skyridge team that lost 55-17 to Lehi in last season’s championship game. The game will kickoff Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

“They’re going to be a good team to play, either one of them, and I’m excited for the challenge,” Clemons said.

Related topics