Quincy falls to Royal at home, 13-17

QUINCY - The Quicy Jacks are still searching for their first win of the season.

Quincy's comeback fell short and the Royal Knights escaped Jay Cee Stadium with a 17-13 win Friday night. The loss drops Quincy's record to 0-2 overall and 0-0 in league play.

Head coach Stephen Wallace and his staff are no stranger to slow starts. Last season, the Jacks lost their first three games before rallying to finish 7-5 before losing in the quarterfinals of the WIAA 1A state playoffs to River View.

"This year's a little bit different," Wallace said. "This year it's just drive killers right now. We're moving the ball well... last night I think we had it four or five times inside the 20 with no points."

Points certainly came at a premium Friday night between the two teams.

It looked as if Quincy would take an early lead when wide receiver Connor Trevino hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Dallas Bassett in first quarter, but the points were wiped away after a holding penalty.

The Jacks subsequently failed on a fourth down conversion and the Knights took over on downs.

After playing the field position battle, Jacks running back Antonio Melendez was able to break away from the Royal defense and score on a 25-yard rushing touchdown with two minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The extra point gave Quincy an early 7-0 lead. The Jacks wouldn't score again until late in the fourth quarter.

After a fumbled punt by Quincy, Royal took over at the 31-yard line. The Knights drove the ball down to the 2-yard line before Royal's Darrin Miller was able to punch the ball in with three minutes remaining in the half to tie the game at 7-7.

Miller was a work horse for the Knights tallying 85 yards on 25 carries along with a touchdown.

Quincy had an opportunity to go into intermission with the lead, but with nine seconds left a Bassett pass was intercepted in the end zone.

"We're trying to be more aggressive on offense this year," Wallace said. "Before we've been more of a ground and pound try and take all the time we could... we're trying to talk to our players about yes, you want to be aggressive but you want to still make smart plays."

On Royal's second drive of the second half the Knights were able to ground and pound the Jacks down to the 1-yard line before a quarterback sneak by Carter Allred gave his team a 14-7 lead with three minutes, 51 seconds left in the third after a successful extra point.

Bassett's third interception of the evening set up Royal at their own 32 yard line and the Knights were able to advance the ball into the red zone and settled for a field goal, pushing their lead to 17-7 with six minutes, 53 seconds left in the game.

However, Quincy still had some fight left.

After an illegal block on the kick return pushed the Jacks back to the 11 yard line, the Jacks were looking at fourth down and 15 deep in their own territory. Down by 10, the Jacks were forced to go for it and Bassett was able the scramble and pick up the first down.

A 23-yard completion to Trevino set up the Jacks inside the red zone. Bassett was able to score on a 1-yard run with two minutes, 13 seconds, but a missed extra point left Royal still leading 17-13.

The Knights were able to recover the onside kick and run the clock out.

Bassett was solid for the Jacks with 91 rushing yards and 196 passing yards, but three interceptions cut short drives that could have ended in valuable points.

"Usually if we get [the opponent] under 20 (points) and under 150 yards rushing... statistically we win those games probably 95 percent of the time," Wallace said. "That's what's frustrating, that the offense just didn't put points up when we had chances."

The Jacks kick off Caribou Trail League play Friday when they travel to face the Cascade Kodiaks.