Royal flattens Ephrata in football opener, 45-0
Running back Joe Lang finds a big hole in the Ephrata defense as Hunter Follett, left, and Valente Cortez look for additional blocks downfield.
ROYAL CITY – Joe Lang's speed and Kaden Jenks's arm were too much for Ephrata, and Royal High won a football season-opener on the road, 45-0.
“It was a good start,” coach Wiley Allred said. “We made plenty of mistakes, but we did okay.”
The Tigers of Ephrata had nearly nothing to throw at the Knights. They generated only 117 yards of offense against a stingy Royal defense.
Meanwhile, the Royal offense was stopped rarely, mostly by its own mistakes. It produced a total offense of 445 yards, just about evenly split between the run and the pass.
Joe Lang, the all-state track star who moved from wide receiver last year to tailback this year, was just too fast for any defender Ephrata could field. He ran for 130 yards on 11 carries and scored two touchdown.
Junior quarterback Kaden Jenks had too much arm for the Tiger defenders, completing 16 of 27 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. And sometimes he had too much arm for his own receivers.
“There were a few drops,” Allred said.
At the other end of the passing attack, Sam Christensen caught five passes for 77 yards; Jose Ponce caught two for 39 and a TD; Lang caught three for 31, Carson Gilbert caught three for 26; Danny Cuevas caught one or 22; Isaac Ellis caught one for 22; and Corbin Christensen caught two for 19.
Lang was supported in the running game by Danny Cuevas (15 carries for 40 yards, 1 TD) Jenks (7-18), Juan Niebla (3-9), Steven Toro (1-7), Johnny Garcia (1-4) and Alonzo Hernandez (1-1).
Starring on defense were tackle Valente Cortez in the middle with seven tackles and cornerback Lang and safety Sam Christensen on the outside with five each.
“They turned everything back into the middle,” Allred said.
Another leading tackler was cornerback Ponce. He had five stops.
Lang picked off a Tiger pass and returned it about 40 yards, and the Knights recovered one fumble.
The scoring, which started in the first quarter, was spread around. Ponce led the way with 19 points on one touchdown, one field goal and six successful extra point kicks.
Jenks got the scoring started with a 9-yard toss to Gilbert in the first period. In the second period, the Knights put the game away with 28 points.
Jenks connected with Sam Christensen from nine yards, Lang ran the ball in from six yards, and Jenks hit Ponce with a 24-yarder.
In the third period, Lang ran the ball in from 65 yards and Ponce drilled a 30-yard field goal.
Cuevas closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter with a run from two yards.