Jenks, defense, lead Royal football to rugged win
Pete Christensen - Photo Adrian Trinidad forces an errant throw by the Colville quarterback.
Bob Barrett Photo - A Colville defender tackles Royal's Kaden Jenks along the Royal sideline, but he pays a price when he's steamrolled by the 6-2, 215-pound quarterback.
Pete Christensen Photo - Juan Ojeda gains eight yards after a pass from Kaden Jenks.
ROYAL CITY — Royal football fans have known about Kaden Jenks’ value as a passer over four seasons. Saturday, in a 27-6 first round win in the state playoffs, they saw his value as a leader.
Jenks’s passing was off just a little, mainly because of the Colville defense. But he accumulated 248 yards and threw two scoring bombs on 11-21 passing. He added 97 yards rushing on 16 punishing carries and scored the two rushing touchdowns.
But the 27-6 victory did not come easy for the Knights. The Indians battled from start to finish.
“They were tough,” Jenks said.
Still, the Knights were dominant. They totaled 404 yards to 192 for Colville. They corralled three turnovers while coughing up two. Jenkins threw two interceptions. Colville connected on 4-17 passes for 87 yards.
The Knights advanced to a quarterfinal game against Yakima’s LaSalle High School this Friday at 7 p.m. at Royal. The Lightning finished second in the SCAC West and defeated Okanogan, 35-20, in the first round.
Colville had plenty of defense to compete with the unbeaten, No. 1-ranked Knights. But Royal had too much defense for the Colville offense.
Every time it appeared the Indians were going to move the ball to the end zone, Royal came up with a stop. The biggest of these came with 9:04 left in the game and Colville trailing, 21-6. The Indians had driven from their 22-yard line to a first down at the Royal 6.
Colville’s quarterback, J. Knight, took the ball to the 1 on an option keeper. Then he gave the ball to his battering ram fullback, Noah Bagley. He was stacked up at the 1 by Juan Garcia and Ramses Gonzalez and the rest of the defensive line.
On fourth-and-1, Knight, called his own number on a sneak behind his center. The Royal line surged forward at the snap, stuffed him at the 2 and took the ball away.
“The defense was outstanding for us,” coach Wiley Allred said. “Our defensive line of Juan Hernandez, Juan Garcia, Ramses Gonzalez, Sawyer Stakkeland and Adrian Trinidad played with great effort.”
“On the goal line stand, Juan Hernandez submarined into the backfield and destroyed forward progress,” Allred added. “It was a total team effort by our defensive line and linebackers. Linebackers Alonso Hernandez, Jhonny Garcia and Isaac Ellis were very disciplined with their reads.”
Although the Colville offense scored one touchdown, it was really the defense that produced it. With 1:06 left in the half and down 14-0, the Indians intercepted a Jenks pass at the Colville 35 and returned it to the Royal 6. They scored with 10 seconds left.
The two teams traded four possessions in the first quarter. The first Royal possession, from the Royal 16, ended with an eight-yard sack and a punt.
On its next possession, from the Royal 39, Jenks found wide receiver Corbin Christensen with a third-and-8 pass on the Royal sideline at the Colville 20. But Colville defenders pounded Christensen as he tried to gain extra yardage, separated him from the ball and took it away.
Colville moved the ball to its 36, then punted to set up the first Royal scoring drive, which bridged the first and second quarters.
From the Royal 24, a run by Jenks netted a first down, but it was negated by a holding penalty. So Jenks ran again, for 18 yards. Running back Danny Cuevas took it six yards for a first down at the Colville 48.
From the Colville 44, Jenks and Cuevas partnered for a play that went the distance and roused the faithful. On a pass that went downfield only a couple of yards, Jenks found Cuevas on the Royal sideline.
As Cuevas turned downfield, he was confronted by a defender. He made a move to the inside, and the defender bit on the fake. He turned back to the sideline and raced away untouched.
“Danny juked the first guy on his pass reception and got a fantastic block from Isaac Ellis to allow him to score,” Allred said.
Colville came back with a strong drive but, with third-and-13 at the Royal 27, the Indians threw a pass Christensen intercepted at the 1.
Royal was unable to move the ball and punted.
On the next play, Isaac Ellis intercepted a pass and gave Royal the ball at the Royal 40. Jenks found Adrian Trinidad for 16 yards and a first down. From the Colville 44, Jenks found Christensen over the middle racing away to the end zone for 14-0 lead.
“The two scoring plays in the first half gave us more confidence,” Allred said.
With 3:30 left in the half, Royal had control of the contest. Getting the ball back at the Colville 45 on a punt with 1:36 left, the Knights tried to widen the advantage and break Colville’s will.
The move backfired when Jenks threw a pass toward the Colville sideline and it was picked off. The interception led to the Indians’ lone score and gave them hope.
The momentum switched right back to the Knights after intermission when wide receiver Juan Niebla returned the second half kickoff 52 yards to the Colville 35.
“The return by Juan Niebla, with some outstanding blocks, gave us some good field position,” Allred said.
A third-and-10 pass to Christensen took the ball to the 11. Two penalties against the Indians took the ball to the 2. On third-and-1, Jenks bulled into the end zone for a 21-6 lead.
With 4:38 remaining, Royal stopped another Colville possession on downs at the Royal 47. On second down, Jenks found C.J. Quintero on the Royal sideline for a run to the end zone.
But Quintero stepped on the white stripe with his plant foot when he cut toward the goal posts, and the refs put the ball on the 24. Four plays later, Jenks scored from the 3.
All that Colville defenders could do was attempt arm tackles. They’d had enough of Jenks.
The second-leading rusher for the Knights was Cuevas with 57 yards on 17 carries. C.J. Quintero rushed one time for two yards.
Christensen led the receivers with four catches for 108 yards. Cuevas went 2-51, Quintero 1-32, Adrian Trinidad 2-31 and Juan Ojeda, 2-25.
Sophomore linebacker Alonzo Hernandez led the defense with eight solo tackles and five assists. The junior Christensen went 7-1 from his defensive back post, and linebacker Jhonny Garcia went 6-1.
Jenks, Niebla, Gonzalez, Ojeda, Ellis, Trinidad, Sawyer Stakkeland and Juan Hernandez were in on multiple tackles. Raynor Beierle, Lorenzo Myrick, Adrian Banda and Juan Garcia all had solos.