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I invited my son Grover, who lives in Spokane, to the Royal-Deer Park football game at Gonzaga Prep Stadium, saying it should be a really good game. At halftime he said:
“I want my $10 back. This is no game.”
He wasn’t serious about the money. He was about the semifinal against Deer Park not being much of game.
I was about as surprised as Grover was, but I remembered back to last year’s semifinal, when Royal exploded with 47-7 victory.
What I really wanted my son to see was the fine football program I’ve been reporting on in my short time working in Royal City. He’s been aware of Royal’s reputation since his school days in Toppenish.
I wanted Grover to get an unbiased view of a 1A program that’s better than most 2A programs and would fare well against some 3A and 4A schools. Maxpreps ranks Royal in the top 20 of all Washington high schools.
Grover has always been sort of quiet. He speaks in bursts. His comments Saturday were brief, but they echoed lots of what I’ve written over the last seven seasons.
“Wow,” Grover said when Kaden Jenks and Adrian Trinidad connected on a 31-yard pass on fourth-and-5 on the opening drive.
From behind his 20 on the second possession, Jenks fired a pass to Corbin Christensen at about the Deer Park 30. Two Stags defenders interfered.
“He would have caught that. It was right on,” Grover said.
Just before and right after 145-pound Danny Cuevas’ 30-yard romp for a score, Grover said: “That little guy can run, and he’s strong.”
When 215-pound Kaden Jenks scored the first touchdown on an 11-yard run, Grover noticed some of the potential tacklers made life decisions.
“That guy is big,” he said.
On Christensen’s first scoring reception in the left corner from 29 yards, Grover noticed that it cleared a defender just before arriving. Same on a 35-yard pass later into the same corner.
“That kid can pass,” Grover said.
Grover had only one descriptive word left when, at the 18, Jenks found Christensen on at the right sideline at about the 15. From where we were seated below the press box, it appeared the pass would be intercepted by the defender in front of Christensen. But Christensen snatched the ball over the defender’s back and raced away.
“Awesome,” Grover said.
Just before the fourth quarter, Deer Park tried a fake punt pass to the right and a flea flicker reverse through the backfield to the left and Royal snuffed it out.
“This team is disciplined,” Grover said.
A couple of player characteristics stood out for Grover. He noticed just about every player, especially on defense, made a big play. He also noticed how well Royal’s receivers catch college-level passing.
Grover is correct. This team is disciplined. Enough, I believe, to win the state championship at Tacoma this Saturday.
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