Cortez, Villafana lead Royal defense in near shutout of Connell in semis, headed to state

ROYAL CITY — Linebackers Valente Cortez and Andy Villafana gave brilliant efforts at Moses Lake’s Lions’ Field Saturday evening, leading a stingy defense while the offense found its bearings in a 47-7 semifinal win in the state 1A football playoffs.

When the offense finally struck, like a lightning bold, late in the first quarter, the challengers from Connell began to wither. They succumbed by half-time, not able to mount any comeback in the second half. They finally scored against Royal reserves with time running out.

The result is that Royal will return to the Tacoma Dome for its ninth appearance in the title game. The Knights will be seeking their sixth state championship. The contest against King’s of Seattle on Saturday will kick off at 1 p.m.

Last Saturday’s was a different type of game for Royal. The offense took charge at the outset in the first 12 games, including the regular season contest with Connell. This time the defense took charge.

The Royal offense didn’t move the ball on its first two possessions. You must credit Connell for that. It kept the game in the Royal half of the field for nearly a quarter.

The Eagles started the game at their 27-yard line but had to give up the ball at their 38. They pinned the Knight offense on the Royal 11 with the longest punt of the evening, a 52-yarder.

Royal ran three plays and punted from the 19. It was not a good kick, and Connell launched its next drive from the Royal 37.

That ended at the Connell 32 on a sack of Connell quarterback Brian Hawkins by Sawyer Stakkeland. This time the Royal offense punted from the Royal 34. Not good again, and Connell got the ball at its 46.

A holding penalty set the Eagles back to their 36. They got a passing first down on the next play. Then Cortez and Villafana worked a little game-changing magic.

On second down, Cortez nailed Hawkins for 2-yard loss back to the 37. On the next play, with 2:35 left in the quarter, Cortez intercepted Hawkins and gave the offense the ball at the Royal 39.

This time, Royal quarterback Kaden Jenkins wasted no time with small ball. He uncorked a line drive down the middle that found Sam Christensen on a 61-yard scoring play. Jose Ponce added the extra point, and Connell came undone.

The score was 21-0 at the half and 47-0 with 10:28 left in the game. Royal coach Wiley Allred cleared his bench.

Cortez finished with his best game of the year, posting seven solo tackles, four assists and the game changing interception. Villafana recorded three solos and two assists. Cortez had two tackles for loss, and Villafana had one.

But this was a team defensive effort. Safety Jenks added two tackles. And 10 other players had solos. They included Steven Toro, Alexis Ramos, Alonso Hernandez, Victor Villanueva, Hunter Follett, Stakkeland, Joe Lang, Carson Gilbert, Ponce and Sam Christensen.

Stakkeland and Gilbert had four assists each. Lang and Danny Cuevas had two each, and Villanueva, Follett, Ponce, Sam Christensen, Houston Miller, Juan Niebla, Carlos Quintero and Adrian Trinidad had one each.

In addition to Cortez’s game-changer, Joe Lang scored from 75 yards on an interception of Hawkins, and Alonso Hernandez intercepted a Hawkins pass.

Gilbert was lined up to make another interception of Hawkins in the second half. But Lang, who helped defend that side of the field, did not see Gilbert and tipped the ball away incomplete.

After the first score, a punt block by a pack of Knights, gave the ball right back to Royal. With his arm loose, Jenks started to put on a passing display rarely seen at this level of high school football.

From the 10 he found Ponce on the goal line. The score was set up by for a fourth down pass to Corbin Christensen on the right sideline for a first down at the 10.

Jenks produced the game’s fourth touchdown with another perfect throw down the middle to Ponce for a 52-yard score. Like Christensen, Ponce caught the ball on the run and blazed past the stunned Connell defenders.

This one was set up by Alonso Hernandez’s interception at the Connell 43, which he ran back to the 36. Lang ran it from there to the 5 for a first down.

On a very cold night, both teams stayed in their dressing rooms until the final two minutes of the rest period then came out for the third quarter.

Taking the ball at their 40, after Connell attempted an onside kick, the Knights rolled to the end zone for a 34-0 lead. They scored on a 17-yard pass to Sam Christensen. Jenks ran the ball three times during that series, and Lang had a 13-yard run.

The Knights struck again on Connell’s next possession, making the score 40-0 on Lang’s 75-yard interception return.

On their next possession, the Egles punted again, and Sam Christensen ran the ball back 46 yards to the Connell 40. Jenks ran the ball from the 31 to the 17 by bowling over defenders and dragging some.

Then Cuevas had the prettiest run of the night. Starting on the right side of the formation he took a handoff from Jenks, sprinted to the left sideline, turned the corner and outran several defenders to the end zone. He had to dive for the last yard, landing just over the goal line.

Connell’s lone touchdown was scored just before the game ended on a 53-yard pass by Hawkins.

Jenks finished his brilliant night with his usual efficiency. He connected on eight of his 12 throws for 189 yards and four touchdowns. The Royal defense held the highly-touted Hawkins to 8-23 for 119 yards and one touchdown.

Lang carried the ball 16 times for 82 yards, Jenks added 35 and Cuevas 27 in a team total of 167 rushing yards. Connell’s two 700-yard rushers were held to 15 each.

Royal receiving was four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns for Sam Christensen and 3 passes for 75 yards and two scores for Ponce. Ponce finished the night with 17 points.