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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Royal takes advantage of turnovers to oust Lakeside

The score notwithstanding, there could be no questioning the performance of the Lakeside’s defense despite a 32-7 Saturday afternoon loss to defending champion Royal in the first round of the State 1A football playoffs at Deer Park.

Eagles defenders dished it out just as readily as their foe. But the Knights’ penchant for penalties was offset by Lakeside turnovers and the visitors ultimately made enough big plays to advance to next week’s quarterfinals at home against Cashmere.

“Defensively we played well, the effort was fantastic,” said Lakeside coach Brian Dunn. “But good teams make you make mistakes and they are a good football team.”

The Eagles (5-6) committed four turnovers and Royal’s smothering front four made it difficult for quarterback Travis Corigliano to operate the offense.

Lakeside defenders answered tit-for-tat and neither team could get untracked on offense until midway through the second quarter.

Up to that point of the game, Lakeside’s outsized, but quick defenders had limited Royal (11-1) to a net 29 yards.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, they could not move the ball at all against a burlier foe and had a negative-4 total.

“They’re really fast, I’ll give them that,” said Corigliano, who was sacked seven times in the game. “Our line did everything they could, but somehow they were getting in there almost every play.”

Then, in the space of just more than a minute, Royal was ahead 14-0. The first score came on a 35-yard completion by quarterback AJ Eldredge to Colt Brown, who bounced off several potential tacklers, stumbled in the slippery turf, but got into the end zone with 6:24 to go until intermission.

Immediately thereafter, Royal recovered a kickoff fumble and needed just five plays to cover the 24 yards. The biggest play was a 22-yard counter by Daniel Garza.

Lakeside finished the half with positive yards, but only because of an 18-yard completion from Corigliano to Jordan Lewis near the end.

The Knights scored again right after intermission on Eldredge’s quarterback draw to lead 20-0 following another fumble recovery on an errant pitch play. From then on they did not pick up another first down until the fourth quarter, only had three in the second half and nine for the game.

Lakeside, which had nine first downs in the second half and 11 for the game, played them nearly even in second-half total yards. That came courtesy of some brilliant acrobatics by receivers Scott Richards and Kyle Stillar.

Richards went high up in a crowd for a 17-yard gain with Royal defenders grasping his legs. It was one of the six balls he caught for 67 yards.

“They’re hitters, but you’ve got to go up and get it,” said Richards. “You might as well catch it if you’re going to get hit.”

Stillar had the catch of the day, on third-and-22, to sustain Lakeside’s lone scoring drive. He lunged out with one hand and batted the ball back to himself, then secured it on the way for a 27-yard gain. Corigliano, who finished with 164 yards passing, hit Lewis from 15 yards out for the score with 1:39 left in the game.

But two earlier interceptions killed Eagles opportunities and Eldredge’s 29-yard fourth-down run on a fake punt led to his second TD pass to Brown that covered 36 yards. Royal scored again following a failed Lakeside onside kick try after its score.

“We have nothing to be ashamed of, our kids played hard,” said Dunn. “This has been an outstanding group of kids. They played their hearts out and gave it their best.”