Big game produces big plays in latest football game

It used to be that big games in high school football were like boxing slugfests in the middle of the ring.

Not last Friday’s SCAC East clash between Royal and Connell. The teams did slug it out in the first half, but in the second half they went to trading haymakers.

No. 1-ranked Royal won, 28-21. But No. 2 Connell was still fighting when, with 1:17 left in the game, Royal’s Corbin Christensen delivered the game’s final haymaker – on defense.

Christensen, who had killed a promising first half Connell drive with an interception of quarterback Brian Hawkins, ended the Eagles’ final threat with an end zone interception and ran the ball back to the Connell 47-yard line.

“It was high (and went over the receiver), and I was right there,” Christensen said.

Most Connell or Royal games have ended before nine o’clock this year. This went to about 9:30 because of all the passing.

On Connell’s final drive, I was silently begging the boys to make a big play and end the game and send us all home. It was a beautiful evening, weather-wise, but my heart was weakening.

After watching incomplete pass after incomplete pass by the Knights, and penalties and mistakes, in the early going, I thought, if they lost, it would be on them.

Connell fooled me. The Eagles were not taking advantage of those breaks. I didn’t see the Eagles in the same class as the Knights. Then, when Royal started executing its offense. Connell did the same.

The Eagles are a good football team, and they have a fine quarterback in Hawkins. The most notable aspect of their game was their fight. It really appeared they would tie the score at 28 – until the interception.

Royal surprised me too. The Knights had what most fans would call a bad game. Quarterback Kaden Jenks had a bad game. There was nervousness you might not expect from a team riding a 20-game winning streak.

But I was not surprised by the Knights’ grit. At crunch time, they found a way to win. They made big plays all over the field.

This game reminded me of an NFL contest. It was a game of big plays, and Royal had one more than Connell.

Expect another barn burner if these teams meet again. That would be for the state championship.

The SCAC was allotted five state playoff berths this year. That caused a shuffling of the 10th week cross-over play-in games.

Royal, assuming it wins out, and the SCAC West champ, presumably Zillah, will rest. The second, third and fourth place teams will battle for the other three berths.

Presumably, Connell will play the SCAC West No. 4 team for one berth. It will most likely win and go to the western Washington bracket of the state playoffs.

That means Royal and Connell can’t meet again until the state title game in the Tacoma Dome. That possibility is a way off, but it could very well happen.