Football gears up towards season with jamboree
Casey McCarthy/Sun Tribune Ephrata’s Tony O’Neel looks to make the pass with Royal’s Elliot Delay in pursuit on Friday at the Royal Football Jamboree in Royal City.
Casey McCarthy/Sun Tribune Derek Bergeson and another Royal High School defensive player make the tackle against Quincy at Royal High School on Friday, Aug.30.
Casey McCarthy/Sun Tribune The Quincy High School quarterback surveys the field before hiking the ball against Royal at the Royal Football Jamboree Friday evening in Royal City.
Casey McCarthy/ Sun Tribune A Warden High School back runs the ball to the right side of the field against Ephrata at the Royal Football Jamboree on Friday, Aug. 30.
ROYAL CITY — Four football programs came together Friday evening at Royal High School for a last tuneup before the start of the season. The Royal Football Jamboree hosted Quincy, Ephrata, and Warden high schools as well as the host Knights.
With scrimmages on both ends of the field, each side was given a set number of plays on offense before switching to the other side of the ball. Royal’s C squad opened up play on the west end against Ephrata’s C team while Quincy’s junior varsity took on Ephrata on the east side.
Other junior varsity matchups included Royal against Quincy before Knights faced Warden on the opposite end of the field to follow. Ephrata and Warden opened up varsity play following the first set of scrimmages on the east end of the field.
The Knights’ varsity took on Quincy in their opening stretch, before facing Ephrata’s varsity squad in their final matchup of the evening. Quincy and Warden closed out the jamboree on the east end, with the final varsity matchup of the day.
Royal head coach Wiley Allred was appreciative of the teams coming out to participate before the season.
“It’s great to get that many teams here, that many looks, and just start the season off with a little preparation before the real season starts,” Allred said. “It just helps. You get comfortable, kids do, against each other a little bit. It gets the butterflies going, gets them nervous.”
Allred said he was impressed with what he saw out of his defensive unit in their brief time on the field, citing the great play of guys in the secondary.
Quincy head coach Wade Petersen said the jamboree was a good “dress rehearsal” before going into the season, helping to prevent making mistakes in the real game.
“It was just good to get out and hit somebody else,” Petersen said. “We’ve been hitting each other for a while during practice. It’s just nice to get a chance to hit somebody else, see if our stuff works, get a good evaluation of our personnel.”
All four programs open up the season on Friday night. Royal will travel to Ellensburg for their opener, with Ephrata also on the road against Cashmere. Warden will kick off the season at home against Okanogan, with Quincy at home against Zillah.