Royal moves into playoff position with 41-0 win over Wahluke

ROYAL CITY - The Royal Knights steadied the ship at home and sank the hopes of the Wahluke Warriors with a 41-0 SCAC East prep football victory last Friday night.

The return of Miguel Ayala to the Knight lineup provided the necessary firepower with two first half rushing touchdowns and strong defensive play. He finished the game with 121 rushing yards on 24 carries and also caught all four passes.

Both coaching staffs were anxious before the game to see how their teams would perform. Royal (2-1, 4-2) was looking to rebound from a rare string of two consecutive losses and Wahluke (2-2, 4-2) was aiming to ride its wave of early season success to an upset win.

Recent wins sparked by solid fourth quarter defense and steady senior leadership were the catalyst for Wahluke's optimism.

"Our past two games have been a battle from beginning to end, and we learned the effort and heart it takes to win close games," said Warrior head coach Brycen Bye.

"The big difference between last year's team and this year is experience," Bye added. "The majority of our 13 seniors started last year."

Even still, Coach Bye understood that it would take a complete game of mental focus for all four quarters to come away with a win.

After stopping the Wahluke offense on its opening possession, Royal took the early lead, 7-0, in the first quarter. It put together a balanced drive, capped off by Ayala's one-yard touchdown run.

The second quarter was much of the same as the Royal defense continually stymied the Warriors. The Knights doubled their own offensive production, pushing the halftime lead to 21-0.

Quarterback Kaden Jenks connected with Jose Ponce from three yards early in the second quarter. The offensive line opened the middle of the Warrior defense as Ayala covered 20 yards for his second rushing touchdown to close the half.

The Royal offensive line has evolved each week. Tony Mayorga joined the mix in week four at guard and junior Teddy Mead slid from backup tight end to tackle on Friday. The latest configuration didn't give up any quarterback sacks.

"We are still learning as an offensive line but played better against Wahluke," junior tackle Payten Stakkeland said. "We know teams want to pressure Kaden. So we know we have to protect him so he can go through his progressions."

The opening minutes of the second half proved the deciding factor. Joe Lang returned the kickoff 47 yards to the Wahluke 43-yard line. He got the call on the first play from scrimmage for an 11-yard gain around the left end.

Coach Wiley Allred followed that with the very same play to the opposite side of the field. This time it was Ponce who got to the edge along the Wahluke sideline and outmaneuvered and outran the defense to the end zone to extend the lead to 28-0.

For much of the night it appeared the Royal defense had a man in the Wahluke offensive huddle, but the Warriors did have success on outside screens for some fairly large gains. Quarterback Arturo Salazar finished with 134 yards passing and an average of 19 yards per completion. Martin Tello, Alex Anaya, and Steven Muchuca each had two catches.

The most telling statistic was third and fourth down conversions. Wahluke converted just 23 percent while Royal was successfu on 65 percent, including 5-for-5 on fourth downs. Fullback Gerard Weyns twisted and powered his way to first downs on most every touch in short yardage situations.

"Much better," coach Allred said about his squad's performance.

Both teams face stiff challenges this week. Royal will travel to Connell, and Wahluke will host Riverview.

Both teams are looking to secure a spot in the playoffs, and victories this week will greatly improve their chances.