The Region 5 championship goes through either Bear River or Box Elder, and Friday night it went through third-ranked Bear River.
The Box Elder running game ran right through the Bears for the 36-29 victory and its second straight Region 5 crown.Rob Kendall rushed for 237 yards with touchdown runs of 59, 60, and 49 yards and Brian Cusick rushed for 126 yards and a 70-yard score as the Bees racked up close to 400 yards rushing.
"Wasn't that unreal?" Box Elder coach Wes Roesler said of Kendall, who is one of five quality running backs for the Bees.
"I knew I could do it if I got the chance," Kendall said.
Bear River coach Doug Parry was ready for the Bee rushing game, but the Bears were ineffective in stopping it.
"They kicked our defense all over the field for the first three quarters," Parry said. "We knew if we gave up the big play we would be in trouble. We did what we said we couldn't do."
The Bees' (6-0) six touchdowns (five in the first half) were over 42 yards.
Kendall added his three runs in the first half, as did Cusick (29-12 at the half), and Cusick's 42-yard strike to Nate Putnam on the Bees' opening drive of the second half was too much for the Bears to overcome.
"You can't get yourselves into a hole with a good football team and win," Parry said.
However, the Bears almost did.
Trailing 36-12 in the third quarter, Nick Chournos, who had 198 yards and three scores, had a 26-yard touchdown catch and a 1 yard touchdown run to pull it to 36-26, and a Skip Williams 23-yard field goal pulled the Bears within a touchdown late in the contest, but the Bee defense stung the Bears in their final drive to halt the comeback.
For the Bees it was their third region title in five years.