Battle of unbeaten Royal, Okanogan should be a game for the ages
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldThe Royal defense has been smothering to this point in the season with seven shutouts in 11 games and allowing just 3.4 points per game.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldA lot will be asked of Royal cornerback Angel Farias this week as the Knights take on unbeaten Okanogan in the 1A state quarterfinals on Saturday at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldRoyal wide receiver (14) Corbin Christensen is the leading scorer on the Knights offense, averaging 9.0 points per game.
ROYAL CITY — That lonesome train whistle Columbia Basin 1A football fans have been hearing in the far off distance all year is finally here.
Something’s gotta give.
The train keeps a rollin’ all night long and the two-time defending 1A state champion Royal Knights (11-0) roll into the Wenatchee Apple Bowl for Saturday’s state quarterfinal game on a 38-game winning streak. They are unbeaten, having won the last two 1A state championships.
Okanogan (10-0) won back-to-back 2B state titles in 2014-15. The Bulldogs (10-0) are the winners of 10 straight games, including a first-round knockout of Naches Valley, 44-7, last week.
This train wreck promises to be the 1A game of the season with only one team getting out with its state title hopes alive.
“They’re athletic, they’re fast and they can play. Sounds like us, huh?” Royal coach Wiley Allred said with a laugh.
Allred will never say it's more than just another high school football game, but this one is like looking in the mirror for a couple of programs used to playing in the final game of the season.
Okanogan tailback Julian Cates (5-foot-11, 205-pound, jr.) is averaging 167.7 yards per game for a Bulldog ground game that puts up 275.5 yards on a weekly basis. On the flipside, Royal quarterback Sawyer Jenks goes into the game with 35 touchdown passes on the season, with an average of 256.5 yards per game. Alonso Hernandez complements the Knights offense with a 100-yard per game rushing attack and Bulldog quarterback Alex Nelson slings it around for 117 yards per game.
Yep, something’s gotta give.
“I think our defense is as good as anybody in the state,” said Allred, whose defense has seven shutouts in 11 games and a score-against average of 3.4 points. “(Okanogan) is a quality team and nobody’s really slowed them down much, yet.”
The Bulldogs like to run misdirection out of a Pistol, Wing-T formation, using both the speed and size of Cates, who despite being 205 pounds, is quick. They also throw the ball well, but they remain a run-first offense.
“They’ve had their way running the ball, but then all of a sudden they’ll throw it deep for a touchdown,” Allred said. “They’ve done pretty much everything they wanted so far this season. Our corners (Corbin Christensen and Angel Farias) are going to have to play some single coverage (so we can adjust in the box).”
The Knights run a 4-2 and a 3-4 base defense, depending on the formation coming at them. It allows the linebackers to play in the same spot most of the time. Javier Huitron (5-7, 210, jr.) is the Knights leading tackler with 5.0 tackles per game. But they have an active linebacking corps with Jack Diaz (6-1, 185, jr.) and Hernandez (5-10, 190, jr.) that fly to the ball with speed to contain the edge.
“We’re going to have to contain and play football,” Allred said. “We have to stop or slow the run down, to have any impact. They’re going to throw the ball some, but they want to be able to run the ball.”
The Knights haven’t lost since the quarterfinals of the 2014 season. They have had the big bulls-eye on their backs ever since and have handled it well.
Jenks leads an offense averaging 56.6 points a game and that has put up scoring numbers like 74 and 75 this season. They had a combined 77-0 against 2A Ellensburg and Othello in the nonleague schedule, so they haven’t just been hammering out-of-place 1A teams.
Corbin Christensen is arguably one of the best receivers in the state. When they line Farias, the speed guy, up on the opposite side and swing Lorenzo Myrick out of the backfield, it taxes defenses trying to get quality athletes on an offense capable of putting up 18.7 points a quarter.
“We need to focus on the fundamentals and not put the ball on the ground,” Allred said. “Teams, generally, at this point in the season, believe they can beat anybody. So it’s about going out there and executing. Sometimes it’s not easy to do because they’re going to bring some difficulties our way and we hope to do the same to them.”
It’s going to be a train wreck and only one team moves on, so there is a lot at stake between two previously unbeaten programs on their march to the Tacoma Dome.
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com