Another Jenks, same old Royal passing attack
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldRoyal quarterback Saywer Jenks has already had two five-touchdown nights in four games this season.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldRoyal senior Corbin Christensen hauls in a ball during practice. Christensen had two caches for 99 yards and two touchdowns against College Place.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldThe two-time defending 1A Royal Knights have not missed a beat in the passing game this year. The heart of the attack includes, from left, Saywer Jenks, Angel Farias, Issac Ellis and Corbin Christensen.
As the story goes, 11-year-old Derek Carr walked across the stage at the Radio City Music Hall in 2002 when his older brother David was selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, shook then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s hand and told him, “I’ll be back.”
They’re not exactly the Carr brothers, but the two-time defending 1A state champion Royal Knights have a pretty good thing going with the Jenks family’s athletic prowess. Hopefully they’re growing another one out back for somewhere down the road, but for the time being, Knights coach Wiley Allred likes what he sees with the next Jenks up.
Royal won back-to-back state championships with Kaden Jenks at quarterback. Kaden passed for 2,506 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for 546 yards and 15 touchdowns en route to The Associated Press 1A player of the year his senior season.
With Kaden off to Weber State University, all eyes were on younger brother Sawyer when the season began. The Knights (4-0) have not missed a beat, extending the winning streak 31 games, while steamrolling over the top two 2A programs in the Central Washington Athletic Conference North during the non-league schedule.
Sawyer already has two five-touchdown nights in four games, once in the season opener and again on Friday when he threw five TDs to lead the Knights past College Place 74-0. Jenks is 40-of-65 for 881 yards and 15 touchdowns. His completion rate is 60.71 percent and the Knights are averaging 223 yards per game through the air.
Senior Corbin Christensen played with Kaden since the seventh grade. That passing tandem was a big part of back-to-back state titles. Now he’s on board with the next Jenks up and averaging 18.75 yards per catch, hauling in 14 balls, including five touchdown passes.
“It’s a little weird not playing with Kaden, but (Sawyer and I) are getting used to each other. Sawyer’s young in terms of experience, so he’s still getting it down,” said Christensen, who’s averaging 90 yards per game. “He worked so hard in the offseason that he’s much better now than last year.
“Football is everything in this town and Coach always maintains we’re just trying to win another state championship. It’s a new team and a new year, but the expectation is always the same.”
Angel Farias has caught just seven passes so far, but the 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior is averaging 31.29 yards per catch with three touchdowns.
“Kaden can definitely throw a lot harder. It was always accurate, but it didn’t take long to get to you,” said Farias, who has eight catches for 228 yards. “Sawyer can throw with touch, but he can definitely throw it where it needs to be, so our passing game is pretty special.”
Sawyer has spread the love pretty well in the early part of the season. Ten different receivers have caught balls. So if the rest of the state was expecting a drop off in the aerial attack, they can guess again.
“(Kaden and Sawyer) are both pretty good, they’re both very accurate. Sawyer can put a little more touch on it,” Isaac Ellis said. “Our receivers are a lot taller and longer than last year, so that’s important in how we run our routes and get open. We have Corbin (6-3), Angel (6-2) and me (6-1). We’re all pretty big bodies, so it’s an advantage going up against smaller defensive back.”
No matter which Jenks is under center, Knights football is about balanced offense. It just so happens they can sling it around a little bit more than the rest of the SCAC.
“To me, it’s just another year. I’ve been working hard for two years. Now it’s my chance,” Jenks said. “I want to write my own story. We really have a solid receiving corps. We haven’t had hardly any drops this year. Corbin is probably one of the best receivers in the state. So as long as I put it on them, they hang on. It depends on down and distance, but sometimes you like to take shots.
“Being a leader and the quarterback comes with the territory. We have other leaders in our locker room, but we all play with confidence.”
Royal football is about tradition and integrity and the Knights are ready for another run at the 1A state championship.
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com