Royal defense stops Quincy, 39-6
ROYAL CITY - Royal High School's football team is loaded on offense, but the defense wasn't taking a back seat last Friday night in a 39-6 victory over the Quincy Jacks.
Getting the ball repeatedly from its defense, the offense enjoyed good-to-excellent field position en route to a 32-0 half-time lead. Two turnovers in the last three minutes of the half sealed Quincy's fate.
The Knights will continue their season this Friday with a South Central A Conference East contest at Warden. The Cougars are 0-2 and aren't expected to challenge in the conference.
For a moment Friday it seemed as if Quincy, 0-2, was going to give 2-0 Royal a battle, moving the ball upfield for a first down. Then the Royal defense popped the ball loose and pounced on it near the Quincy 30.
A couple of plays later, quarterback Alex Myrick side-stepped a rusher and found tailback Christian Guerrero at the 15 along the left sideline. Guerrero outran the defense to the corner for a 6-0 lead.
Royal's defense stopped the Jacks cold on their next possession and got the ball in Quincy territory after a short punt. That led to a 15-yard scoring pass from Myrick to Guerrero that made the score 13-0 after a quarter. A Laddie Goroski one-yard run made it 19-0 in the second period.
With less than five minutes to half-time, Quincy sustained its best drive of the half, well into Royal territory. Then disaster struck.
Royal defensive lineman Marcos Morales stole the ball from a Quincy runner. That led to a brisk drive and one-yard scoring run by Myrick.
Quincy drove again and had the ball well into Royal territory, and disaster struck again. Under a fierce rush, the Jacks' quarterback passed toward the left corner of the end zone. Myrick picked him off at the 17 and raced up the sideline to a score with no time on the clock.
Myrick scored again in the fourth quarter from the 1. Quincy scored in the waning minutes.
Although the Knights were dominant, they had some problems. There were 11 penalties for 90 yards. And three extra points were missed, two of them blocked when kicks were low.
However, coach Wiley Allred noted the kicker is freshman Jose Ponce, from whom he expects great things. Ponce sailed the kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.
The defense was led by Morales. He had nine tackles to go with the steal. Brady Dixon nearly matched that effort with eight tackles and fumble recovery. There was an interception by Goroski.
Other stellar defensive nights were: Myrick, six tackles and two assists; Emilio Bustos, four tackles and one assist; and Reed Lefler, four tackles, one assist and one sack.
"Our offensive line (Collin Christensen, Carter Christensen, Uriel Carmona, Johnny Montoya, Lefler, Tony Mayorga) is doing a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage," Allred said.
Myrick had his usual good night at quarterback, completing 18 of 23 passes for 232 yards and three scores. He scored twice himself.
Fullback Damien Delarosa carried the ball 17 times for 101 yards, Myrick gained 45 yards on 10 carries, and Guerrero had three rushes for 22 yards.
Guerrero led all receivers with six catches for 112 yards. Brady Dixon caught four passes for 66 yards, Goroski had four for 36 yards, Jake Janett had two for 22 yards, Damien Delarosa one for two yards and Kent Christensen had one for one yard.