Prep football: Confident Northridge puts away Box Elder 35-7 to open region play
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- Northridge receiver Braxton Featherstone (8) sees in a touchdown reception over Box Elder’s Korbin Jeppesen (20) on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Box Elder’s Tyeson Hansen, left, loses grip of the football on a hit from Northridge’s Makai So’o on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Box Elder’s Cole Bushnell runs the football against Northridge on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Northridge quarterback Trey Nye rears back to throw against Box Elder on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Northridge’s Andrew Ortiz, right, tries to a scoop up a loose ball against Box Elder on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Northridge receiver Anthony Martinez looks in a pass against Box Elder on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Box Elder quarterback Carter Buchanan throws a pass as Northridge’s Rylen Rude pursues on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Northridge quarterback Trey Nye takes a snap against Box Elder on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Box Elder’s Tyeson Hansen, left, rushes the football against Northridge on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
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- Northridge High students cheer at a football game on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Layton.
LAYTON — After a perfect non-league schedule, Northridge High football opened Region 5 action with a bout against Box Elder on Friday night.
The results were the same as Northridge built a 21-point cushion in the first half and coasted home, blistering the Bees 35-7.
Senior quarterback Tre Nye continued his red-hot start for the Knights, throwing three touchdown passes to three different receivers.
“We’re getting everyone involved. We have great receivers all over. Even our backups can come in and make a difference. We’re deep,” Nye said. “Coach was calling great plays. They were trying to shift their coverages and stuff, which we game-planned for and watched on film.”
Junior running back Andrew Ortiz tallied two touchdowns, coming on Northridge’s first drive of the game and on the final play from scrimmage in the second quarter.
Leading 28-7 at the half, the Knights managed a 13-yard Nye TD toss to Chase Harris, who bulled his way to paydirt with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter.
“(Chase), what a great job getting open and getting to the goal line,” Nye said. “We got a little complacent and penalties killed our drives in the second half. If we can fix the penalties, no reason we can’t win 63-7 right now.”
Both teams benefited from a short field to score their initial touchdowns in the first quarter.
After a three-and-out by the defense, the Knights went 55 yards on six plays with a steady diet of Ortiz runs; he scored from 3-yards away with 8:05 left in the period.
“We ran the same play four times in a row. They couldn’t stop it,” Ortiz said. “We were in perfect position every play, so we just kept going back to it until they stopped it. They started loading the box so then we threw the ball more.”
An exchange of punts later, the Bees only had to fly 37 yards and did so on seven snaps when senior running back Tyeson Hansen lugged the pigskin the final 13 yards and Box Elder led 7-6 at the end of one.
But Northridge opened up that 28-7 halftime lead with three touchdowns in the last six minutes of the half.
The Knights journeyed 75 yards on 11 plays, culminating in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Nye to Braxton Featherstone at the 5:49 mark of the second stanza for a 14-7 lead.
“I’m looking at Braxton; he taps me. The corner is inside shade so I throw it to his back shoulder. He jumps up, makes a great catch. Touchdown,” Nye said.
Two and a half minutes later, Nye tossed his second touchdown pass of the quarter, this one to Jaxon Fresques over the middle. He raced 43 yards untouched to the end zone, making it 21-7 with 3:21 to play in the half.
“Jaxon Fresques, man, he’s so fast. He’s going to tear up any secondary we play,” Nye said. “I believe in him. I have total faith in him.”
That looked to be it for the half when the Knights punted and Box Elder (2-2, 0-1 Region 5) took possession at its own 12 with less than 1 minute on the clock.
Instead of running out the time, the Bees were forced to punt after three quick plays, and fumbled the snap. The Knights had a first-and-goal at the 4 with 49 seconds remaining.
Ortiz, who barely touched the ball after his first-quarter stint that caused Box Elder adjustments, scored his second touchdown of the half on the next play.
The Northridge defense played lights out the entire game. Tayven Norvang intercepted a ball midway through the fourth quarter, setting up the final touchdown for the Knights.
“Our defense is awesome; they’ve been phenomenal all year. I expect they’ll keep it up moving forward in region play. We’ve got dogs all over the field making plays,” Nye said. “Now that we’ve started region, nothing behind us matters. We have a really tough region and have to play our best football to win.”
The Knights (4-0, 1-0 Region 5) have started the season 4-0 for the first time since 2012 and are a confident group, as they should be.
“Coach (Andrew) Fresques believes in us. It’s all great teamwork,” Ortiz said. “We’ve got something special going on. We think we can make it a long way.”