Bees put scare in Red Devils, but fall from playoffs (with photos and video)

When Box Elder traveled to Springville to take on the undefeated Red Devils in 4A football playoff action on Saturday, the Bees knew they would have to play a nearly perfect game to upset the Red Devils.

They nearly did, but in the end fell 28-20 to close out a season of frustration.

Springville (10-0, 6-0), the Region 8 champion, used a balanced attack in the first half to take the lead early. Aided by a Springville pass interference penalty, Box Elder matched that score with a Jarom Mecham to Dylan Rodriguez pass and run through heavy traffic with 1:04 to go in the first.

The Red Devils came back and grounded out another score, with 5:53 to go in the half. But the Bees weren’t done. Bryant Tingey raced 82 yards for a potential game tying score just over 1:45 into the third quarter. After the PAT failed, it was 14-13 Springville.

If anybody thought the undefeated Red Devils would panic, they were wrong. They changed the focus of their offense to more of a wildcat style and pounded the Bees with run after run. Another Red Devil score at the 11:09 mark of the fourth seemed to put the game out of reach. Amazingly, the Bees had the Devils held on two occasions but three off sides and a personal foul extended the drive.

The Bees came marching back, but a tipped Mecham pass was intercepted in the end zone, killing a prime scoring pass. Tingey added a late 2-yard TD run with 3:46 to go, but the Devils killed the clock to advance.

Box Elder coaches praised their players after the game for their never say die attitude. They finished the year at 5-8 (1-4 in region), including two play-in wins to get to the Springville game.

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