Royal Knights bury Goldendale to open 1A football playoffs

Royal opens state against Lakeside on Saturday afternoon

ROYAL CITY - If the Goldendale Tiimberwolves were thinking about an upset of the Royal Knights on Tuesday night, their hopes took a serious hit just seconds into the game.

Royal's Cash Brown took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, the start of an onslaught that saw Royal polish off Goldendale 41-8 in the South Central Athletic Conference play-in game to state at David Nielsen Memorial Field.

The Knights (10-1 overall), seeded third out of the SCAC, travel to Northeast League champion Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls for a state opener on Saturday, a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Royal immediately capitalized on its early momentum, recovering an onside kick following Cash Brown's score to set up a 12-yard scoring pass from Austin Allred to Colt Brown.

"We just wanted to get this one wrapped up as soon as possible and the kids did that," Knights head coach Wiley Allred said.

The Knights put the icing on a 27-point first quarter as Cash Brown rumbled in on a 4-yard run and Hector Ledezma - who rushed for a team-high 91 yards on 11 carries - scored the first of his two TDs on a 16-yard burst.

Royal's lead increased to 41-0 at halftime as Austin Allred hit Hector Ledezma from 24 yards out, then found Zach Lewis for a 25-yard TD.

Goldendale's only score came in the third quarter courtesy of a 2-yard run by quarterback Tanner Milliren. The Knights' defense handled Milliren, limiting him to 4 of 10 passing for 66 yards and one interception.

Austin Allred had a big game through the air, completing 10 of 14 throws for 181 yards. Angel Ledezma hauled in three catches for 74 yards, and three other Knights had two catches apiece.

"We had a little bit of difficulty on our offensive line blocking some of their guys," Wiley Allred noted.

The Lakeside Eagles (9-1) present a different challenge for Royal, featuring a fly sweep offense and two-platoon system that tends to wear out opponents, Wiley Allred said. Defensively, they run a 3-5 and blitz a lot.

"We'll have to be ready on Saturday - we play a really good Lakeside team," Allred said. "They've got a lot of skilled kids, so they can really come at you from all angles."