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Ogden • Roy needed 2 yards from its star fullback on a key third down in Friday's nail-biter against Fremont.

As is often the case with Baby Tee Eteuati, he cradled the ball, put his head down low and bowled over a Fremont defender.

Gain of 8.

"You know what? That's just him. I'm glad he's on our team and not the opponent, we'll put it that way," said coach Fred Fernandes.

The Royals went into Fremont's house in a game with gigantic Region 1 implications and came out with a 19-15 win, due largely to Eteuati and his company of running backs.

He racked up 109 yards and a touchdown, spelled by Matty Matautia and the speed of Brayden Sampson when he tired.

The game began with a war of attrition, each yard won or lost with punishing effort in a 6-6 tie at halftime.

But momentum swung late in the third quarter when Fremont's Saxton Morby was intercepted.

Morby flung the ball to the right sideline where it was plucked out of the air by Roy defensive back Angel Arvizo, who rumbled 58 yards for a touchdown and a little bit of breathing room.

Arvizo said the pick was a product of a blitz and him deciding to jump a pass intended for Fremont speedster Haze Hadley.

"The ball came to him and I picked it off and ran the other way," Arvizo said.

After long first-half drives softened up the Fremont defense, Roy's Hunter Mather hit the right edge hard and rumbled for a 62-yard touchdown, putting the game seemingly out of reach at 19-6 with 8:30 left in the game.

But Morby answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive – culminating with a 10-yard Austin Freeman rushing touchdown – to make it 19-13 with 4:26 to go.

Enter Eteuati, who carried the ball the last three plays of the game, offering a simple explanation for how he kept his legs churning on that crucial third down.

"Heart. All heart."

Twitter: @BrennanJSmith —

Storylines

R Coming into this game, Fremont was scoring an average of 41 points per game at home and Roy 36 points per game on the road. The two teams combined for 34 points Friday.

• Roy sustained long, punishing possessions several times during the game, including a 16-play drive lasting 7 minutes, 22 seconds on their first touchdown.

• Fremont falls to 2-3 on the season and is losing ground quickly in Region 1.