Royal tested by Connell, but comes away with the win
ROYAL CITY — Two undefeated SCAC East Conference squads battled it out on the gridiron at David Neilsen Stadium Friday. And after the dust had settled it was Royal coming away with a hard-fought 24-21 win over league nemesis Connell.
Going in, the game looked to be one that would be determined by big plays and it was, which made the outcome a bit closer than the home crowd may have expected.
“For us — it ended up being that kind of a game,” coach Wiley Allred said. “The first three times we had the ball we were inside the 5-yardline with a first and goal and should’ve been up 21-0. But for different reasons — penalties and otherwise — we only came away with 10 points — and then they return a kickoff and I think that was key pretty much for the rest of the game.”
The first big play came on a 46-yard hook-up from Sawyer Jenks to Isaac Ellis (PAT) to give the Knights a 7-0 first quarter lead. Royal added a 21-yard field goal to open second quarter scoring off the foot of Osvaldo Guerrero to make it 10-0.
The second big play came 16 seconds later when Parker McCary returned the ensuing kickoff for 90 yards and an Eagle touchdown to get within three at 10-7. The score held up through the remainder of the first half.
The third big play came on the Knights first possession of the third quarter when Jenks avoided a sack at the Royal 36 and tossed the ball to a leaping Corbin Christensen deep in Connell territory who made a couple of slick moves to avoid would-be tacklers and find his way into the end zone. The kick from Guerrero was good and the Knights went up top 17-7.
The fourth big play of the contest came from the Connell defense that pressured Jenks to scramble from the pocket and toss a pass on the run that was intercepted by the Eagles Seer Deines and returned for a 15-yard score with a little over nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Royal answered back with a 4-minute drive that resulted in a 3-yard TD run by Alonso Hernandez (PAT) to put the Knight out to a two-score lead, 24-14.
The fifth big play game off a missed Connell field goal that sailed wide left of the uprights that could’ve gotten the Eagles within a touchdown with 10 minutes left in the game.
Much to the chagrin to the home crowd, the Eagles weren’t done as Connell put together a 41-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard Tristan Parker run for a score (PAT) with 4:12 left on the game clock to give the visitors hopes of an upset.
But it wasn’t to be as the Knights were able to gain a couple of first downs and hold on for the win.
“A lot of things went good for us in this game, but at the same time things not typical that were self-inflicted went against us,” Allred said. “But credit Connell. They have a tough defense and hung in there and found ways to score.”
Despite the miscues on offense and a couple of short punts that gave Connell good field position, coach Allred singled out the efforts of several Knights on both sides of the ball.
“I thought Isaac Ellis and CJ Quintero played really well on defense,” he said. “On the O-line Raynor Beierle and Manny Alvarez blocked really well for us.”
The win extends Royal’s streak to 34 games.
Jenks completed 14 of 27 passes for 2 TDs and was intercepted once. Hernandez carried the rock 20 times for 87 yards and a score. Christensen was the Knights leading receiver with four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Royal is back at it Friday when the Knights head to Burbank for a game with the Coyotes.