Royal attack turns into bad news for Bears

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 56, Inchelium 26; Odessa 54, Entiat 6; Lind-Ritzville 41, Liberty-Spangle 0; Columbia-Burbank 31, Warden 6

Prep football recaps

BENTON CITY - The Royal Knights weren't about to stop their recent surge, nor were they about to start the 1A state football playoffs on the road.

Those were two of the messages the Knights delivered to South Central Athletic Conference East Division rival Kiona-Benton last Thursday, winning 62-14 in a contest to decide the division's No. 2 seed to the regional playoffs.

Royal took control of the contest with a three-touchdown first quarter, made it 42-7 at halftime, and was never seriously challenged. The Knights earned the right to host West Division No. 3 seed Goldendale on Tuesday, a 7 p.m. contest at David Nielsen Memorial Field.

Tailback Hector Ledezma, who gashed the Bears for 164 yards on 16 carries, opened the scoring on a 32-yard TD run. Before the first period was over, the Knights added an 82-yard Austin Allred-to-Zach Lewis TD pass and a 40-yarder to Blair Collins.

Allred, who completed 9 of 15 passes for 220 yards, connected with Cash Brown from 39 yards out in the second quarter for a 28-0 margin. He added an 11-yard TD run, then threw for his fourth score of the half on a 12-yarder to Lewis.

Lewis caught four balls for 111 yards and the Knights had 19 first downs to Kiona-Benton's seven.

Colt Brown's 44-yard interception return and two short Ledezma runs gave Royal its final three scores in the third period.

Royal's defense, meanwhile, held Kiona-Benton's dangerous passing attack completely in check. Quarterback Anthony Pace was just 5 of 15 for 96 yards and two interceptions.

If the Knights (9-1 overall, 7-1 SCAC) beat Goldendale on Tuesday, they'll travel to District 7 champion Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 56, Inchelium 26

INCHELIUM - The Warriors scored 32 first-quarter points en route to a blowout victory over the Hornets in their Northeast 1B League finale on Friday.

ACH, which solidified the league's No. 2 spot to regionals with last week's win over Columbia-Hunters, will host the Garfield-Palouse Vikings this Friday or Saturday. Final details have not yet been announced.

"We got out to an early lead and I was able to rest some of my first-team guys for most of the game," Warriors head coach Brandon Walsh said via e-mail.

Jordan Hughes had a tremendous game for ACH, scoring his team's first three touchdowns. He scored on an 18-yard run, returned a punt 55 yards, then took a pass from Josh Goodwin and went 66 yards.

Shawn Dahlenburg's 10-yard fumble returned capped off ACH's 32-0 first-quarter lead.

Spencer Gloyn, a senior offensive lineman, scored his first career touchdown in the second quarter, barreling in from 2 yards out.

Dahlenburg had another fumble return TD in the third quarter, and ACH finished its scoring on runs of 11 yards from Grayson Sizemore and 16 yards from Cody Leander.

Sizemore was the team's leading rusher, carrying 10 times for 84 yards. Leander added 72 hashes on 16 carries, and Hughes went for 60 more on just four touches. Dahlenburg had a team-high 16 tackles and Sizemore added 13.

ACH, which has won nine games in consecutive years for the first time in school history, tries to atone for last year's early exit against Touchet this weekend.

"Last year's first-round exit is still fresh in our minds and we feel like we have something to prove this year," Walsh said. "The kids are excited and we're pretty healthy. Now it's time to go play well in the playoffs."

Odessa 54, Entiat 6

ODESSA - The top-ranked Odessa Tigers routed the visiting Entiat Tigers on Friday, going up 40-6 at halftime in their Northeast 1B finale.

Odessa hosts Lacrosse-Washtucna this Friday or Saturday in a regional playoff game. If the Tigers win, they'll host a state quarterfinal game the following weekend.

Running back Jacob Schmidt returned from injury to get the Tigers off on the right foot, scoring on a 10-yard run early in the first quarter. Odessa also got a pair of TD runs from Justin Karnitz and an 8-yard TD pass from Ryan King to Travis Todd in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, King took a punt 47 yards to the end zone and Karnitz got his third TD of the night, a 26-yarder.

Odessa scored the only points of the second half as King found Todd on a 9-yard pass and Alex Null ran in from 3 yards. The 45-point mercy rule was enacted at that point.

Lind-Ritzville 41, Liberty-Spangle 0

RITZVILLE - Bronco running back Isaiah Grant went for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead Lind-Ritzville to a rout of the Lancers in Northeast 2B action on Friday.

The Broncos (7-2) earned the right to host the Asotin Panthers (8-2) this Friday at 7 p.m. Asotin won the teams' regular-season matchup.

Lind-Ritzville's defense was also stellar, limiting Liberty to just 171 total yards and forcing three turnovers. The Broncos have surrendered just 10.8 points per game thus far.

Grant's big night started in the first quarter as he scampered 35 yards to the end zone. He later scored on a 50-yard gallop, and the Broncos ended the first-quarter outburst on a 1-yard Matt Saetre run.

Bronco quarterback Mike Osborn didn't have much work, but was efficient. His only two completions went for touchdowns, a pair of 15-yarders to Saetre and Jacob Milner in the third quarter. Lind-Ritzville's other score was on Trace Jones' 55-yard punt return in the second period.

Columbia-Burbank 31, Warden 6

WARDEN - The Cougars closed their SCAC campaign with a loss to the visiting Coyotes, who got five touchdowns from five different players.

Arturo Martinez ran 11 times for 115 yards to lead the Cougars' offense. Receiver Chris Kalous got Warden's only touchdown in the fourth quarter, taking an 11-yard pass from Scott Phillips.

Burbank limited Phillips to 6 of 14 passing for 67 yards and one interception. Zach Werlinger, Seth Shelton, Neal Schuck, Chad Davis and Forrest Gordon all scored on short runs for the Coyotes.