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Murray • For Roy's Fred Fernandes and Murray's Blaine Monkres, the coaching paths they took were the same for many years. The path of friendship remains, but on Friday, they took the field on opposite sidelines.

Though Fernandes and Monkres know each other's coaching preferences to a tee, there wouldn't be any need to match strategems in a close game on this night. Roy simply had too much size and too much ability, and the Royals blew out the host Spartans 47-6 to start the 2016 campaign for both squads.

"Give Roy credit. They're a good football team and they're gonna make a run for the championship in 5A," Monkres said.

From the start, Roy (1-0) commanded the line of scrimmage.

Royals senior Hunter Mather scored on a 26-yard run two minutes into the game and eventually finished with 119 yards rushing — 100 in the first half. Teammates Keenan Johnson and Trace Tupe also finished with 111 and 99 yards on the ground, respectively.

When Mather broke loose on a 42-yard punt return for a touchdown, Roy took a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

With all their running success, perhaps it was no surprise when quarterback Jaden Sabin — on his first throw of the game — found big Roy tight end Wynton Lamar wide open for a 53-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for a 21-0 advantage.

"I almost tripped — lucky I didn't, but it felt good," Lamar said of the catch. "After a long year of training and hitting your own teammates, it feels good to get a win against an opponent."

Lamar was also a big part of a dominant defensive performance, as the only first down for Murray (0-1) in the first half came when Jordon Orozco broke loose for an 81-yard run in the second quarter. On the Spartans' next possession, Lamar sacked quarterback Noah Shoeman and recovered the fumble.

Three plays later, Johnson found the end zone on a two-yard run and Roy had a 28-6 advantage.

Fernandes and Monkres started together as assistants at Roy High School. Eventually, Monkres took the head job at Morgan and Fernandes joined him as an assistant. The two earned a state championship at Morgan in 1993 and eventually went to Fremont, in the same coaching capacities, and helped the Silver Wolves to a state runner-up finish.

Monkres' latest stint was at Dixie State University before taking the job at Murray.

"We've been friends and we keep in touch weekly," Monkres said. "I knew he was going to have a tough team here tonight."

"I'm not sure I'm going to want to play him in two years," Fernandes said. "I just felt like, tonight, our kids were just bigger and stronger." —

Storylines

• Roy had two 100-yard rushers in its season opener, as Hunter Mather rushed for 119 and Keenan Johnson finished with 111, while a third, Trace Tupe, had 99 on the ground.

• Senior Wynton Lamar caught a 53-yard touchdown pass and, on defense, had a sack and fumble recovery on the same play.

• The matchup was a renewal of coaching acquaintances as Roy's Fred Fernandes and Murray's Blaine Monkres started as assistants together at Roy High.