This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Box Elder Bees are taking home the Golden Spike trophy for a sixth consecutive season after buzzing past rival Bear River 20-6 on the road in the 93rd all-time meeting between the two teams.

The Bees clinched their school's 69th victory over the Bears in the state's longest continuously played rivalry with big second-half performances from running back Travis Dickson and tight end Zach Gunn.

After Bear River had tied the game 6-6 to start the third quarter, Box Elder needed some sort of answer on offense to keep the Bears at bay.

After struggling to find his tight end in the first half, quarterback Dylan Rodriguez finally started connecting with his 6-foot-5 big man in the third quarter. Gunn converted some crucial third downs on his team's first possession of the third quarter and ultimately set up Dickson to score a 1-yard touchdown run to take the lead with 1:05 left in the quarter.

"I was hoping I was going to get a lot more opportunities in the second half; I didn't get many looks in the first half," Gunn said. "It felt really good to start getting those plays my way and get some yards for my team. The whole offense really stepped up in the second half and that's why we won tonight."

With a chance to essentially seal the game midway through the fourth quarter, the Box Elder offense was, once again, unable to make the Bears pay. The Bees squandered several opportunities throughout the game, including three fumbles on their first three possessions, a missed PAT after their first touchdown, two missed field goals, and some miscues near or in the Bear River red zone.

"We worked hard all week and knew this would be a tough game," senior running back Travis Dickson said. "We came out and really struggled in the first quarter. … That was really disappointing to start that way. We made some stupid mistakes that shouldn't have been made."

Dickson was not going to let the Box Elder defense waste another chance to clinch the game. After driving down inside the Bears' red zone, Dickson found some space around the outside and trotted his way into the end zone from 12 yards out to give his team the 20-6 lead. —

Storylines

R Box Elder QB Dylan Rodriguez passes for 128 yards and a touchdown while going 13-for-18.

• Box Elder TE Zach Gunn makes five catches for 71 yards.

• Box Elder wins its sixth straight against Bear River. The Bees lead the all-time series 69-25-2.