“It was our dream since 7th grade” - Royal Senior Jose Ponce

ROYAL CITY – After wining the 1A state football championship in Tacoma last Saturday with his Royal High teammates, senior wide receiver Jose Ponce spoke to the media with tears in his eyes.

“It was amazing. It was emotional,” he said of the dream that came true and ended at the same moment.

Ponce was in seventh grade when his group of seniors promised each other to do all they could to win the state championship. Jose was a freshman on the Royal team in 2012, the last time it appeared in the state title game.

“It was a lot of fun. I still remember it like it was yesterday,” he said.

Ponce didn’t get to play in that game. He played a little during the season as a kicker and receiver. When he was given the choice of going home for the post-season, he decided to stay with the team. He got to dress and be on the sideline for that state championship game.

“It was exciting just to be there,” he said.

It was his sophomore year when Ponce started to develop as the combative, quick wide receiver fans enjoyed watching this year. Between touchdowns and a countless number of extra points, he was this senior group’s leading scorer.

Scoring was incredible for the Knights this year. They put up 738 points, a single-season state record. They averaged 52.43 points per game, the point-a-minute team.

On defense the Knights allowed 70 points for the year for a 5-point average. The first team defense allowed only five rushing touchdowns and no passing touchdowns.

Individually, senior Randy Dunn set a Grid Iron Classic record for 1A schools when he crushed a 67-yarder on his first punt of the state championship game.

As for his own scoring, Ponce said: “I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without my teammates. This was truly a team.”

Regarding his receiving the last two years, Ponce gave as much credit to quarterback Kaden Jenks as to himself.

“He developed incredibly,” Ponce said. “He developed as a passer and physically.”

Another senior who put in four years with the Knights was linebacker Valente Cortez. He played some as a youngster, but his first start came in 2014 in the opener with Ephrata.

Coach Wiley Allred came to appreciate Cortez as a warrior. He led the team in the heavy work of tackling the opposition and blocking for his quarterback and ball carriers.

Winning the state championship “was awesome,” Cortez said.

Cortez came into the season convinced this team would win a state title. As the season wore on, “honestly, no” he didn’t think any team would catch the Knights.

“We had awesome athletes all over the field,” he said.

Ponce had the same positive view. He was sure this would be the year to realize that 7th grade dream.

“I had all the confidence in the world,” he said. “I knew we were going to make it. We were balanced. We had running and passing and defense. We had playmakers all over the field.”

Coaches and others were concerned when Darrin Miller decided he would not to play football this year after two seasons as a successful running back. Not Ponce.

“Joe Lang had always been a running back with us,” he said. “When Darrin came to town, he took that position. Joe was such a good athlete that he was moved to wide receiver. When they announced he would be the running back this year, I felt like everything was falling back into the places they belonged.”

Lang had a tremendous season. The only reason he wasn’t prolific statistically was that his team was so good. It did most of its scoring before half-time. It was unfair to leave him in most games after that.

Lang had to play all of the championship game because of the quality of the King’s team. Cortez was glad of that, saying that if there had been an MVP that day, it was Lang.

“He made a game-changing interception for a touchdown to seal the win,” Cortez said. “He made another interception that stopped a potential scoring drive, and he scored two touchdowns on offense.”

These Knights were special in the way they approached games. They had no doubt. They came out of the locker room on fire every time and took charge of every game early.

“We were just excited to play,” Cortez said. “We love the game.”

Like their mates, Cortez and Ponce will move on to the rest of their lives next spring. Football is most likely a part of their history now. Ponce plans to attend Eastern Washington University, but he doubts he’ll even try football.

“They have a great program, but I don’t think I would fit in,” he said.

Cortez is going to do something entirely different. After graduation, he’ll head out on a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He doesn’t know where he will go, but he will have fond memories of a football season to remember as his traveling companions.