Royal defense shines in 41-12 victory over La Salle in 1A playoffs

ROYAL CITY — Black Friday isn’t until after the Thanksgiving holiday, but the defending 1A state champion Royal Knights celebrated early with a 42-12 victory over La Salle in the quarterfinals.

Where the rest of the country will be going on a shopping spree, the Black Knights’ defense went on a stopping spree Friday night at David Nielsen Memorial Field in the 1A quarterfinals. Safety Kaden Jenks scooped up a La Salle fumble and raced 70 yards for the touchdown three minutes into the second quarter. On the first play of the Lightning’s ensuing possession, linebacker Isaac Ellis stepped in front of a Bridger Parrish pass and returned it 33 yards for the pick six and the Knights (12-0) second defensive score in less than 10 seconds.

Throw in Jenks 1-yard touchdown on the keeper just prior to open the quarter, the Knights scored 21 points in less than two minutes. Kind of like running up daddy’s credit card at Macy’s. If that wasn’t enough, defensive end Adrian Trinidad, blew in off the edge for a strip sack and recovery, making it the third straight La Salle possession to end on a turnover.

Black Friday? It was more like Black Knight Friday in Royal City and the No.1-ranked team in Washington 1A rolled to its 24th straight win since losing to Colville in the 2014 quarterfinals.

They will face Deer Park on the 1A semifinals on Saturday, 1 p.m., at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane.

“We’re just staying hungry. Our ultimate goal is to get back to the state championship game. We need to grind every week,” said Ellis, who was the leading tackler with five solo tackles. “The two defensive scores were definitely a big shift of momentum in our favor.”

The Royal defense denied two first-and-goal situations inside the 5-yard line in the tournament opener last week against Colville. When they weren’t off to the races with the scoop and score or the pick six, the Knights were playing rock solid in the trenches against La Salle.

They had another goal-line stand in the fourth quarter this week. The Lightning pounded three straight running plays into the middle of the line from inside the five. On fourth down, they went to the air, but Ellis was there to knock ball away and the Knights took over on downs.

Royal had another take-over-on-downs earlier in the fourth quarter when La Salle was pushed back on a holding call and faced a fourth-and-goal from the 20. Parrish found Jordan Martin on a crossing route and the Lightning senior scampered toward the goal line, but was stopped just short.

“We’re here for each other, playing together. Scoring as a defense feels great. But in my mind, we’re not finished,” said Trinidad. “Every down, every second is for one reason — to get back to the championship game. We pressured their quarterback all night, and in the end he knew we were coming. But we’re not done, there’s more work to get where we want to go.”

There’s always more to be done on the offensive side, Royal coach Wiley Allred said. But the smile on his face said, “Yeah, we did pretty good tonight.”

Cuevas finished with 147 yards on 17 carries. Jenks added 81 yards with two offensive touchdowns and a score on defense. Alonzo Hernandez scored a touchdown and kicked four extra points. Jenks was 7-of-15 passing for 126 yards.

“We just ran it hard and hit the holes. We were working on our speed tonight,” said Cuevas. “Our defense kept everybody excited with the scores. I think the offense is working really well right now. We’re pretty confident.”

Score by quarters La Salle 0 0 0 12 — 12 Royal 7 21 7 7 — 42 Scoring summary R — Kaden Jenks 5 run (Alonzo Hernandez kick), 5:37 R — Jenks 1 run (C.J. Quintero pass from Corbin Christensen), 11:40 R — Jenks 70 fumble recovery (Hernandez kick), 9:53 R — Isaac Ellis 33 pass interception (kick fails), 9:42 R — Jenks 1 run (Hernandez kick), 10:19 LS — Bridger Parrish 1 run (pass fails), 6:41 R — Hernandez 1 run (Hernandez kick), 3:30 LS — Jordan Martin 22 pass from Parrish (kick fails), 32.2