Knights trample Riverview

ROYAL CITY - The Royal Knights traveled to face the River View Panthers with the opportunity to take control of the SCAC-East prep football race and came away with a 58-30 win.

Often, going in to a game, you don't know whether to expect a defensive battle or an offensive shootout. Fans didn't have to wait long in this one to find out.

The Knights took the opening possession on their own 32-yard line. On the first play of the game, quarterback Kaden Jenks sent Jose Ponce in motion from the strong side of the formation to the weak side.

As Ponce crossed in front of Jenks, the Panther defensive backs suspected Ponce would take the hand off going around the left end and gravitated in that direction.

At the snap of the ball, receiver Joe Lang quietly slipped behind the onrushing defense along the right sideline. Jenks faked the hand off to Ponce and delivered ball to a wide open Lang at the River View 49.

Lang turned up field and beat the Panther safety to the end zone for the first touchdown just 22 seconds into the game.

The Panthers then had their first opportunity but were able to muster only one yard in three plays before having to punt. River View quarterback Ruvim Tyutyunnik doubles as punter and delivered a booming punt that sent Royal returner Ponce back to his own 10 to field it.

Ponce immediately circled to the right and allowed his teammates to form a wall of blockers in front of him. Miguel Ayala provided a devastating block that freed Ponce down the right sideline with only Tyutyunnik standing between him and a touchdown near the 50.

Ponce set Tyutyunnik up with a move to the inside that turned Tyutyunnik around in a full circle as Ponce exploded past him and into the right corner of the end zone for a 13-0 lead with just 2:20 elapsed in the game.

Game over? Not so fast.

The Panthers held their composure and marched down field in 12 plays on their next possession with an even mix of run and pass to put their first points on the board.

Consistent offensive production insured the win for Royal, but the Panthers didn't go down without a fight. In fact, Royal yielded more points to River View than any other opponent this season.

Cesar Bernal started off the second quarter with a field goal, and Miguel Ayala capped it off with his first rushing touchdown of the game. In between, Teddy Mead hauled in a 1-yard touchdown pass for his first of the season.

Royal scored two touchdowns in each quarter. Despite a 16-point third quarter for the Panthers that narrowed the Royal lead to 44-30, they just weren't able to keep pace.

In the second half the Knights put their fate in the hands of their two-headed rushing attack of Ayala and Darrin Miller.

They delivered.

Each of the backs scored two rushing touchdowns in the second half. Ayala scored the first two in bruising fashion with runs of 39 yards and 46 yards.

The fourth quarter was Miller's time to shine. He employed more of a peek-a-boo style as he followed his blockers and eluded defenders en route to touchdown runs of 30 yards and seven yards.

All totaled, the Knights racked up 337 rushing yards. Ayala had 157 on 15 carries with three touchdowns, averaging 10.5 yards per carry. Miller averaged 8.6 yards per carry and finished with 172 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns.

Ayala also caught two passes for 40 yards. After scoring the first touchdown for the Knights, Lang finished with three catches for 118 yards to lead the receiving corps. Jenks threw for 171 yards and two passing touchdowns without throwing any interceptions for the second consecutive week.

Ayala led the charge on defense, finishing with seven solo tackles and ten total. Safety Carson Gilbert finished with five tackles and an interception.

This Friday the Knights will host the Bears of Kiona-Benton. The Bears will carry considerable momentum into the game after their huge 27-14 upset win over the Connell Eagles last Friday. Their only other win up to that point was a forfeit over the Highland Scotties.

The Bears' win over Connell means that River View and Connell each have two league losses, while the Knights have seized control and are the lone undefeated team.