We could have two local teams in prep football playoffs
Royal Knights Football
They have a long way to go to reach the level of the rival Royal Knights, but the Wahluke Warriors have made some positive strides late this year in prep football, and they aren’t finished.
If the Warriors win at Burbank this Friday, they will go to the cross-over, play-in games with the SCAC West with three straight wins and some momentum.
The Warriors would have to be total failure this Friday against the weakest team in the league to not enter the cross-overs as the No. 3 team from the East.
Until Wahluke rose up last Friday, Kiona-Benton was No. 3 and looked like No. 3. The Warriors should walk away from the Coyotes as they did from River View, 52-0 and Ki-Be, 36-28.
The not-so-good news after that would be a meeting with West No. 1 Zillah, which is comparable to Connell and Royal, two teams that scuttled Wahluke before the turnaround.
On the other hand, if Wahluke faces Zillah, don’t expect the Warriors to lie down. Their rise is not just about the boys playing better. It’s also about coach Mike Foristiere making changes that simplified the offense.
His quarterback was taking snaps in a shotgun formation until the River View game. Now he’s going under center. The Warriors have fumbled only once in those two games
In addition, the Warriors have been controlling the ball and the clock. They’ve punted once in those two games.
The Warriors took control of the Ki-Be game on their first possession after the half. Leading 24-20, Wahluke drove 80 yards, with the help of three 4th-down conversions, to make the score 30-20. When Ki-Be got the ball, there was only 1:30 left in the third quarter.
It would be nice to see Wahluke win Friday, and win the cross-over with Zillah. That would mean both of our teams made it to the state playoffs.
There is no doubt about Royal. The Knights are about as good as a class A team could be. It will take a monster team to topple them.
The only question is how far the top-ranked A team will go. It won’t be a surprise to see the Knights in the title game, but you can bet Zillah and Connell won’t give them an easy path.
The Knights have had a fabulous season, and they are fun to watch. They can run and throw the ball with equal facility. And they have a hard-hitting, stingy defense.
The Knights will roll into Friday night’s homecoming game against Cascade of Leavenworth scoring nearly 55 points a game and allowing less than 6.
No team, with the exception of Connell, has come close to the Knights. And that leads to the lone problem I can see for the Knights as the playoffs approach.
They’ve been so dominant that they could struggle when they run into one of the better teams in the playoffs. The lone full game the Knights played was against Connell.
In Royal’s other games, reserves played the second half. That could mean the Knights will be well-rested for the playoffs. It could mean they lack physical conditioning.
But this is class A football, and other powerhouses, like Zillah and Connell, have encountered the same type of game.
Allred couldn’t play his starters as much as he would have liked. His team is that good.
And his team may be just as good next year because he’s had to play his reserves.
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