Following a three-and-out series by the Bees, a bad punt placed Bountiful just inside Box Elder territory. Two plays later, Jason Rigby fumbled the ball. The Bee's quickly capitalized on a scoring run by Cam Green, and the Braves trailed, 7-0.
"It's all right, I just knew I'd make up for it by playing well the rest of the game," said Rigby of his early fumble. "We were fine the whole time. We just shrugged it off, played well, and that's how we got our victory."
Bountiful coach Larry Wall had a little different perspective to the miscue.
"We've got to cut down on our turnovers," he said. "We could have easily been up 21-0, or they could have easily been up by the same. We just need to take care of the ball better on offense."
But it was the defense in the second quarter that had the Braves tying up the score. A fumble recovery by Cullen Clark was followed by a one yard touchdown run by Mitch Johnson with 10 minutes left in the quarter.
Box Elder had two promising drives following the Braves touchdown. But two missed field goals left the Braves escaping the first half knotted at 7.
Coming out of the halftime break, Rigby broke away with a 36 yard scamper after the kickoff, but a quick Braves fumble halted another scoring opportunity. Following a three-and-out by Box Elder, Rigby scored his first touchdown of the season on a 63-yard screen pass set up by great blocking of the front line, and the Braves were up 14-7 going into the fourth quarter.
"It feels good. It's a lot of pressure off my shoulders," said Rigby of scoring his first touchdown, "but I'd rather have the win anyway."
The fourth quarter began with Box Elder driving again, but midway through the Bees fumbled and Andrew Welling immediately fell on the ball. A three-and-out followed, but on fourth down, punter/kicker Ammon Schwab boomed a punt to the Box Elder 26 with four minutes left.
Box Elder threw for three consecutive first downs and ran the ball effectively against a tired Braves defense following the punt. But with 36 seconds left and the Bees on the Bountiful 10-yard line, the Braves made four consecutive plays to halt the Bees from tying the game. On first down a sure touchdown was dropped by Tom Salmon, Box Elder's running back. Second down almost put the game away, but a sure interception fell right through Rigby's arms.
"It's fine. I just had the confidence in our team and I just knew we'd step it up and win the game," said Rigby of the dropped interception, and step it up they did.
On third down, Box Elder attempted to throw to the corner of the end zone, but the pass was deflected. After the play, a personal foul was assessed to the Braves, placing the ball on the five yard line. Fourth down led to the Bees attempting another pass, and after a scramble, the quarterback fumbled the ball and Bountiful recovered with nine ticks left, sealing the game.
"It was a big game for us" said Wall. "We stayed undefeated, but we have a lot to fix as a team, so we'll be looking at things to improve on and get ready for next week."
The Braves will host another Regional game against Mountain Crest next week at 7 p.m. The Mustangs are 2-3; and 2-0 in Region play.
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