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

State football: Colville stuns No. 1 Royal to earn trip to 1A title game against Newport

From staff reports

The longest winning streak in the state is over.

John Knight ran and threw for touchdowns and the fifth-seeded Colville Indians forced four turnovers to beat the No. 1 Royal Knights 31-28 in a State 1A semifinal at Lions Field in Moses Lake.

Trevor Morrison’s interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed it for Colville. Paul Skirko picked off a pass and blocked a punt, both of which led to Indians scores.

Colville (10-2) faces fellow Northeast A League member Newport (11-1) in the 1A title game on Saturday at 10 a.m. Newport looks to avenge its only loss of the season – a 28-7 Colville win during league play on Oct. 12.

Royal, the No. 1-ranked team in state 1A, had outscored its opponents 673-33 this season entering the game. The Knights (12-1) were three-time state champions and had won 53 straight – including a 55-6 rout of Mount Baker in a state quarterfinal last week.

The last time Royal lost was Nov. 22, 2014 – to Colville, in a state quarterfinal at Lions Field.

Knight’s 33-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter tied it at 7. After Royal went up 14-7, Colville’s Jakob Larson returned the kick 80 yards to tie it up again. Larson also rushed for 96 yards on 29 carries.

Lucas Michaelson’s 22-yard third-quarter field goal gave Colville its first lead at 17-14. The Indians made it 24-21 on Knight’s 33-yard pass to Chase Kanamu following Skirko’s blocked punt.

Sawyer Jenks connected with Angel Farias on touchdown passes of 76 and 52 yards and Alonso Hernandez had two rushing TDs for Royal.

Newport 27, Lynden Christian 14: Adam Moorhead had two first-quarter touchdown runs, Tug Smith added two fourth-quarter scores and the 10th-seeded Grizzlies (11-1) topped the sixth-seeded Lyncs (10-3) at Lions Field.

The Grizzlies built a 14-0 halftime lead on Moorhead’s 6- and 2-yard TD runs. The Grizzlies QB rushed for 53 yards and passed for 115.

Jackson Corkill’s 74-yard touchdown pass reception in the third quarter halved the Lyncs’ deficit.

The Grizzlies converted a pair of fourth-down plays early in the fourth and scored on Smith’s 4-yard run to make it 21-7.

Cody Bajema gathered an 8-yard scoring pass from Tajan Schouten to get the Lyncs back within a touchdown, but Smith’s second score of the quarter, from 8 yards out, sealed it.

Smith finished with 10 carries for 41 yards.

Odessa 65, Quilcene 6: The top-seeded Tigers (13-0) trounced the fifth-seeded Rangers (11-1) in a State 1B semifinal at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee.

Odessa faces fellow Northeast 1B South Division member Almira/Coulee-Hartline in the State 1B title game on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome in a rematch of the teams’ league game on Oct. 4, a 56-22 win for Odessa.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 82, Naselle 28: Maguire Issak passed for 391 yards with five touchdowns and ran for 162 yards with three scores and the second-seeded Warriors (12-1) routed the third-seeded Comets (9-2) in a State 1B semifinal at the Apple Bowl.

Hayden Loomis hauled in five catches – three for touchdowns – for 218 yards.

The game was tied at 8 early before ACH scored six unanswered TDs, including passes of 53, 54 and 78 yards from Isaak to Loomis. Isaak had TD runs of 46, 20 and 40 yards.