Bobcats cruise past Royals for senior night win

Quarterback Braxton Godderidge throws a pass during Sky View's 56-35 win over Roy on Thursday in Smithfield.

With playoff seeding hanging in the balance, the Sky View football team used a defensive second half to pull away from the Roy Royals Thursday in a 56-35 win on senior night in Smithfield.

“It was a real battle that first half,” Sky View head coach Craig Anhder said. “It was back-and-forth. I was wondering if it was going to be the last team that had the ball that would win it. Our coaches had our kids make some great halftime adjustments. Our defense dialed in, and we just shut them out in the second half.”

The Bobcats drew first blood on a 32-yard bomb from quarterback Braxton Godderidge to runningback Dane Anderson, but Roy quickly answered.

The teams duked it out in the second quarter, combing for 48 points on seven touchdowns. Godderidge threw two of his five touchdown passes in the period, and Anderson ran for two more as the Bobcats took a 34-28 lead into the intermission.

<span>“That’s what our offense does,” Anhder said. “They do that game in and game out. We have a great offensive line, we’ve got a smart quarterback. We’ve got a great running back, and then we have a good core of receivers.”</span>

The second half was all Bobcats.

Godderidge threw for two more scores and ran for another while the defense dug in and stifled the Royals for the entire third quarter and most of the fourth. Roy managed a late touchdown with less than two minutes left, but it was too little too late.

“They’re a good team,” Anhder said. “You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. It was great for our kids to play a good team and to make adjustments against them. Those kids played tough and kept their heads in there.”

Godderidge threw for 312 yards and five touchdowns in the win, adding another touchdown on the ground as well as 54 yards. 

The Bobcats finish the regular season 8-2, and 5-1 in Region 5 to clinch the region’s No. 2 seed for the state tournament. Sky View earned the right to host a first round playoff game on Friday, Nov. 1, and will face the winner of Friday’s game between Highland and Bountiful.

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