Sky View drops fourth straight at Box Elder

<strong>BRIGHAM CITY—</strong> After an exciting start to the season, the Sky View Bobcats dropped their fourth consecutive game Thursday as Box Elder pulled away for a 40-22 Region 5 victory.

The game started strangely with three consecutive turnovers. First Box Elder’s Shad Watson fumbled on his own 15 yard-line, giving the Bobcats great field position. Sky View returned the favor fumbling the ball in the end-zone resulting in a touchback. Box Elder then fumbled again giving the ball back to Sky View, who scored on their second play with a 15-yard pitch and catch from Braxton Godderidge to Daniel Lemon. Lemon led the Bobcats with 117 yards receiving on seven receptions, including two touchdowns.

“I did alright,” Lemon said. “But it doesn’t take just one person its gotta be the whole team. All eleven guys gotta do their jobs and then we’d have a chance to win the game. Our scheme will work against anybody we just need to execute and do it like we do in practice and not get down on ourselves.”

Box Elder was quick to answer back, as the Bees put together an impressive 80-yard drive that was finished off by a Kyler Allen 32-yard touchdown run with seven minutes left in the first quarter.

Sky View turned the ball over on its next possesion with another fumble, putting its defense in a tough spot. With only 20 yards to go, Allen scored for the Bees on a 5-yard run to take the lead.

Box Elder’s defense was effective stopping the run throughout the game, forcing Sky View into a one-dimensional attack. With seconds left in the first quarter Allen scored his third touchdown of the night on a 20-yard run. After forcing Sky View to punt Box Elder scored again this time through the air on a 27-yard pass from Watson to Jayk Brooks for a 28-7 lead.

“We’ll battle back, I think the very first thing we do is watch film and learn from it and get better,” Sky View head coach Craig Anhder said. “It was one of those games where we’d get something going then it would just stop. I wish I knew the magic formula that would keep us going every time. We just gotta get better.”

After a couple long pass plays, Sky View put a good drive together that was finished off with an Ethan Dursteler 2-yard run. The extra-point was blocked by the Bees making the score 28-13 with four minutes left in the second quarter. The Bobcats added a Nelson Griffiths 37-yard field goal before the half to close the gap to 28-16.

Defenses on both sides stepped it up in the third quarter, with both teams being forced to punt on multiple drives. Eventually, Sky View had its back against the wall and Box Elder took advantage sacking Godderidge for a safety.

The Bees drove the field again and scored on a 5-yard Breckin Gunter run. On the next series Godderidge was picked off by Gunter on his own 15-yard line. Sky View’s defense held strong and forced Box Elder to a 37-yard field goal by McKay Parrish with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Godderidge threw a second pick to Box Elder’s Jake Tolman, but Sky View forced the Bees to punt. With the game all but decided, the Bobcats drove the field once more and score off a 35-yard touchdown pass from Godderidge to Lemon. Godderidge was 25-for-46 with 269 yards passing two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Although Sky View was outscored they had only 20 less yards of offense than Box Elder.

“At times I thought we were excellent,” Anhder said. “And other times I thought we were not so excellent. It was very up and down. I was pleased with our defense in the second half, I felt like they responded a lot better than in the first. We gotta get out there and play a little more physical. We took some strides in the right direction tonight in that category, but we gotta continue improving.”

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