Royal dismantles College Place to wrap up regular season

COLLEGE PLACE - The three-time 1A defending state champion Royal Knights have outscored their last five opponents 284-0. Last Friday’s 62-0 victory over College Place was their fifth consecutive shutout for a defense allowing just 2.12 points a game. But this game to conclude the regular season is special, whether they talk about it or not. The Knights have now won 50 consecutive football games and are tied for the second-longest winning streak in the nation, according to MaxPreps. The streak dates back to Sept. 4, 2015 when they shutout the Ephrata Tigers 45-0. Coach Wiley Allred, who will be inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Hall of Fame at the end of the season, will tell you they focus on attention to detail and preparation, the rest will sort itself out.

"It's been pretty fun to be involved with players year in and year out (to get to 50 consecutive wins," Allred said. "We'll talk more about it after the season, because we're so focused on the next one. With the playoffs are coming up and tougher times are ahead. But the streak is tops in the state, because they eliminated the Bellevue stuff (for violations of WIAA sanctions). It's pretty cool, but our main goal is to keep it going."

It seems only right that their 50th consecutive victory closes out the regular season with yet another dominant conclusion. The Knights’ (9-0, 6-0 SCAC East) defense held College Place to just 33 yards of total offense, including minus-21 yards rushing, and the Royal offense did the rest, scoring 48 first-half points. Alonso Hernandez rushed for a cool 100 yards on seven carries, including four touchdowns for an offense that generated 437 in total offense. Avery Ellis scored on a 5-yard run for the final touchdown of the night. The Knights flexed some muscle with the passing game. Sawyer Jenks was 13-of-22 for 242 and three touchdowns, including a 47-yard bomb to Angel Farias for a touchdown. Derek Bergeson was 1-of-2 for 22 yards. The Christensen to Christenson connection turned into a scoring opportunity. Gage Christensen connected with Caleb Christensen for an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The Royal defense was dominant start to finish, holding College Place (4-5, 2-4) to just five first downs and 33 total yards. The Hawks were 1-of-11 in third down attempts (9 percent) and 1-of-4 on fourth down attempts. Hernandez, Javier Huitron and Tucker Janett led the defensive stand. Hernandez finished the night with three tackles and three assists. He had two tackles for a loss and one sack, coming on the blitz. Two of Huitron’s three tackles were for a loss. He also had a sack and three assists. Tucker Janett had two tackles for a loss and a sack. Owen Ellis had the fourth Knights sack of the night. Royal will host the No. 3 seed out of the SCAC West Naches Valley (3-6, 3-3 SCAC West) on Friday as the Knights go in defense of their 1A state championship with Friday night’s SCAC District game at David Nielsen Stadium.

Royal             20 28 7 7 - 62 College Place   0   0 0 0 -  0

R - Alonso Hernandez 4 run (Osvaldo Guerrero kick) R - Jack Diaz 21 pass from Sawyer Jenks (run failed) R - Hernandez 40 run (Guerrero kick) R - Angel Farias 47 pass from Jenks (Guerrero kick) R - Hernandez 5 run (Guerrero kick) R - Hernandez 1 run (Guerrero kick) R - Carter Dorsing 27 pass from Jenks (Guerrero kick) R - Cooper Christensen 18 pass from Caleb Christensen (Guerrero kick) R - Avery Ellis 5 run (Guerrero kick)