Brighton High turned two Roy fumbles into second half touchdowns and a 28-19 4A playoff victory Friday.
"The turnovers had a lot to do with the win," said Bengal coach Lynn Freestone, "but I think our ball control was also a factor."We managed to eat time off the clock and we got a couple breaks."
In reality, Brighton only had two sustained drives in the game, but both culminated in Bengal scores.
Good first half pass defense and a couple timely second-half bounces told the the story, along with a 93-yard touchdown scamper around left end by senior running back Chris Skudlarczy in the second quarter.
Brighton drew first blood on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Mike Herbert kept the ball up the middle, breaking one tackle before spinning in from six yards out. The touchdown was the result of a 13-play, 78 yard drive that ate up most of the clock in the scoreless first quarter. With the kick, it was 7-0 Bengals.
Roy looked like it would answer right back, but the drive stalled at the Brighton 34 yard line where Roy was forced to punt after a halfback pass just failed to connect on a third and 14 play. It looked like Brighton was in trouble when Brandon Peterson called for a fair catch at the 7-yard line instead of letting the ball bounce into the end zone.
The trouble was only momentary, however, as Skudlarczyk took a pitch from Herbert, picked up a key block on the cornerback, eluded a diving tackle at the Roy 20 and cruised in for the TD and a 14-0 lead.
"They (Brighton) threw some unexpected coverages on us in the first half that we just weren't prepared for," said Roy coach Fred Thompson. "They really took away the pass."
Roy's Phil Durbano was inconsistent in the first half, hitting on just 12 of 22 tosses. Seven of those completions came during the Royal's only scoring drive to pull Roy within seven at 14-7 at halftime. A 21-yard toss to wide receiver Shane Belnap on a fourth and three play at the Bengal 25 kept the drive alive.
Roy snuffed Brighton's opening possession of the second half and roared back on a 53-yard drive using eight running plays to push the ball over. It was 14-13 when the kick failed. Running backs Jake Schultz and Jason Harrop did the damage with Harrop carrying the ball in from five yards out with a determined second-effort lunge.
After forcing a Brighton punt, Roy moved quickly moved into Bengal territory on two runs and a pass catch by Ryan Roberts that put the ball at the 30. Roberts took the ball again and looked like he was going to pop a big run when the ball squirted free.
The ball bounced right up into the hands of defensive back Aaron Menlove, who rambled to the Royal 33 before being tackled. Brighton struggled to a first down at the 23 where Herbert called his own number again. It looked like he was trapped for a big loss on first down but somehow managed to elude two tackles and then popped out of a crowd to sprint in for his second touchdown on the day. With the kick, it was 21-13.
It looked like Roy was right back in the game when Scott Hirshbrunner popped through the wedge on the kickoff and had only kicker Sean Jacobs between him and a touchdown. But Bengal Bryan Dobson hit Hirshbrunner from behind and the ball popped right into the hands of Jacobs who carried the ball back to the Royal 48. Thirteen plays later, running back Tyler Wilcox churned in from seven yards out to make it 28-13. Brighton turned two fourth downs into first downs on the drive.
Roy moved the ball quickly inside the Bengal 40 before Tracy Anderson picked off a Durbano pass at the 16 to stymie the drive. Brighton failed to move the ball and Roy got it back at their own 40 following a punt. Roy connected on five of six passes to move to the Bengal 4-yard line where Schultz rambled in for the score. A two-point pass failed and Brighton led 28-19.
Brighton then ran the clock out.