Royal romps again, Connell showdown Friday
Danny Cuevas, Royal's second tallback, heads toward the end zone behind a formidable wall set up by (from left) Isaac Ellis, Hugo Ledezma, Juan Garcia and Irvin Cedillo. He took the ball to the one-yard line and scored on the next play.
ROYAL CITY – Led by its stingy defense, Royal High School pounced on Naches last Friday in the second game of the prep football season, with a 48-0 victory.
It was the second lopsided win for the Knights against teams that were clearly over-matched. This Friday may be different. The 2-0 Knights will host 2-0 Connell in the first home game for Royal and the first SCAC East game.
Royal coach Wiley Allred is not surprised Connell has emerged as a league and state contender. He said the Eagles were a young, talented team last year.
“Everybody's back from that team,” he said.
Allred expects a rugged battle. He said the Eagles are fast and skilled and are led by a good quarterback.
“It should be a great game,” he said.
Last Friday's game was great only for the Knights. They kicked off to the Rangers, then stopped them cold on the first possession. They forced a punt that led to the first score of the game, a 1-yard plunge by quarterback Kaden Jenks.
The Rangers finished the game with minus-11 total yards. The three Ranger first downs came by penalty.
The outcome was settled by the end of the quarter, with Royal leading, 20-0. Allred pulled back on the reins after a third-quarter touchdown made the score 48-0.
Once again, the Knights were balanced. They scored four times on the ground and three times through the air. They passed for 283 yards and ran for 246. They didn't punt all night. The only blemish was a missed extra point kick by Jose Ponce after the first touchdown.
Running back Joe Lang got the second score on a run of eight yards. Ponce got the third touchdown on a 31-yard pass from Jenks.
In the second period, Cuevas scored from one yard, Cuevas scored on a 35-yard pass from Jenks and Jenks connected with Sam Christensen from 52 yards.
Those last two scores featured a contest between between the Knights and the officials. Cuevas went to or near the end zone twice, but penalties set the team back twice. He scored on the next play.
The Christensen score was good after three other long plays went to or near the end zone and were called back on penalties.
After intermission, Lang blazed to the end zone from 80 yards, and Allred called it a night for his starters.
Lang finished with 159 yards rushing on 11 carries. Cuevas had 42 on five carries. Kaden Jenks completed 10-14 passes for 283 yards with no interceptions. Cuevas caught three passes for 84 yards, and Ponce had three catches for 71 yards.
The defensive effort was shared across the lineup, with Sam Christensen and Carson Gilbert leading in tackles with five each. Houston Miller, Victor Villanueva and Juan Garcia had two tackles each. Four more boys had single tackles, and the team was credited with four. Carson Gilbert also had two assists.
Jenks and Juan Niebla picked off Naches passes, and Carson Gilbert recovered a Naches fumble. Naches grabbed two Royal fumbles, but those were committed by Knight reserves.