Defense, running game advance Royal to semifinals
ROYAL CITY — On a cold night at Royal City, the Royal High Knights turned to their running game and defense for a 42-12 victory over Yakima’s LaSalle in the class 1A state playoff quarterfinals last Friday night.
The win propelled the unbeaten Knights to the semifinal round against Deer Park, 10-1. That game will be played at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane.
A victory this weekend would advance the Knights to the state championship in Tacoma on Saturday, Dec. 3. They won the state title last year.
If the Knights accomplish that, they could face off again with the SCAC East No. 2 team at Tacoma. The Connell Eagles obliterated Meridian, 56-21, last week and are playing in the other semifinal.
Coach Wiley Allred unleashed a rugged running attack on LaSalle. It churned up 253 yards in 42 plays. The passing attack added 123 yards while quarterback Kaden Jenks had his coolest game of the year, completing only seven of 15 passes.
“We felt we had a stronger offensive line than their defensive line,” Allred said. “It’s a good way to shorten the game with a decent lead.”
It was the defense that set the tone of the game, stopping LaSalle cold on its first offensive series. Down lineman Juan Hernandez broke through the LaSalle offensive line on the first play and leveled the ball carrier for a four-yard loss.
“Our defensive line was dominant,” Allred said.
Royal forced a punt and set up the offense at the Royal 30-yard line. Adrian Trinidad ran the ball for a first down. Then he carried a Jenks pass to the LaSalle 31.
Two Jenks runs got another first down, and an 11-yard pass to Juan Ojeda took the ball to the 7. Danny Cuevas ran the ball to the 4, and Jenks scored from there to post 7-0 lead.
LaSalle had another brief possession. It ended with a Ramses Gonzalez tackle at the Royal 44.
With 3:12 left in the quarter, the Knights launched a drive that included one complete pass and eight runs. The longest, on third down and 10, by Alonzo Hernandez, moved the ball 16 yards to the LaSalle 14. Jenks ran eight yards to the 1 and scored on the next play.
Royal was leading 15-0, but LaSalle was still in the game. That was all changed by the defense in a span of 11 seconds.
Picking up a fumbled pitch, Jenks scored a return touchdown from 73 yards for a 22-0 lead with 9:52 left in the half. Linebacker Isaac Ellis scored at 9:42 after picking off a LaSalle pass in LaSalle’s left flat and returning it for a score.
From that point, Royal was content with running the clock down. The Knights got another two-yard score from Jenks in the third quarter and a one-yard score from Alonzo Hernandez in the fourth.
LaSalle responded with one touchdown against the Royal first team in the fourth period and a touchdown against Royal reserves.
LaSalle passed the ball well between the goal lines, compiling 280 yards. But the Royal defense did not allow the Lightning to score until near the end.
Royal’s defense had another goal-line stand at the 1. LaSalle had the ball at the 5. Royal pushed the Lightning back to the 6, then sacked the quarterback at the 21. LaSalle completed a pass on fourth down, but Knight defensive backs stopped the play at the 1.
That led to a remarkable one-minute 10-second rally by Royal that just missed scoring. Jenks ran the ball to the 17 for first down. A 39-yard pass to Cuevas took the ball to the LaSalle 30 with 05.7 left in the half.
Jenks threw the ball to the left corner of the end zone incomplete, intended for Corbin Christensen. But there were off-setting penalties and, with no time on the clock, Jenks found Juan Niebla on the left side with another pass. Niebla dashed to the same corner of the end zone but was knocked out of bounds at the 1.
Royal ran into a problem with one particular referee, called for defensive holding in the secondary three times. They had not been called for that all year.
The problem was a technique Royal coaches teach. They say their defensive backs re-direct receiver routes with the move.
“One referee called it as if it was the NFL rules, instead of high school,” Allred said. “We won’t change our technique.”
Allred lauded Gonzalez, Ellis and Juan Hernandez for their efforts on defense. On offense he pointed out Cuevas and lineman Juan Garcia.
“Juan had a number of pancake blocks,” he said.
Cuevas was a workhorse. He carried the ball 17 times for a game-leading 147 yards. He led receiving with one catch for 39 yards.
Jenks was the second-leading rusher with 84 yards on 13 carries. Trinidad added 18 yards, and Alonzo Hernandez ran for 17.
Christensen and Ojeda caught two passes each, and Niebla and Trinidad caught one each.
On defense, Jhonny Garcia recovered a fumble, made six solo tackles and assisted on two others. Otherwise, the defense was led by Jenks, Christensen and Ellis, with four solos each. Jenks and Ellis had one assist each.
Alonzo Hernandez had three solos and two assists, Gonzalez went 3 and 2, and Juan Hernandez had three solos. Trinidad had one solo and three assists. Ojeda, Niebla, Johnny Guadarrama, Addin Felker, Javier Huitron, Lorenzo Myrick, Jack Diaz and Juan Garcia were in on at least one tackle.