Turnovers doom Lakeside in loss to Royal

NINE MILE FALLS, Wash. – Lakeside knew that to avenge last year’s loss to Royal in the first round of the State 1A football tournament would require limiting mistakes and protecting the football.

The Eagles failed to do both, resulting in a 60-7 first-round State 1A loss to the visiting Knights on Saturday afternoon.

Lakeside committed six turnovers – two fumbles and four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

After the game, Eagles coach Brian Dunn praised Royal and stressed the importance of protecting the ball.

“They are the best football team in my years of coaching here at Lakeside,” he said. “There’s no question about it. They are big, strong and fast and we knew that coming in. We knew we couldn’t afford to make mistakes and we made plenty of mistakes.”

Lakeside, which fell to Royal 31-7 last year, looked overmatched from the beginning. The Knights went on an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive on their first possession, capped by Dexter Allred’s 5-yard touchdown run.

After forcing the Eagles to go three-and-out on the ensuing possession, Royal quarterback Austin Allred tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back Hector Ledezma, capping a nine-play, 82-yard drive.

The Knights failed to convert the two-point conversions on each of the touchdowns and led 12-0 after the first quarter.

The Eagles had an opportunity to put points on the board in the second quarter, taking a drive deep into Royal territory. But Allred intercepted Brady Blankevoort’s pass in the end zone to halt the drive.

From that point, it was almost all Royal.

After Lakeside (9-2) was unable to convert a fourth-and-2 on Royal’s 25-yard line, Allred scampered 35 yards to give the Knights a first down on the Eagles’ 40. Three plays later, Ledezma scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run and caught a pass for the two-point conversion to give Royal (11-1) a 20-0 lead.

Jacob Christensen and Blair Collins then added interception returns for touchdowns to give the Knights a 35-0 halftime advantage.

Royal tacked on 25 points in the second half, the last score coming on Ernie Garza’s 25-yard return for a touchdown of a blocked punt.

Lakeside’s Reid Chivers scored on a 10-yard run with 10 minutes, 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter for the Eagles’ lone touchdown.

Knights coach Wiley Allred was pleased with the way his defense performed.

“Our secondary is pretty quick and we made some plays,” he said. “Overall, I think our defensive front was solid and played extremely well.”

Austin Allred finished with 76 yards rushing and a touchdown and completed 10 of 18 passes for 137 yards and two scores to lead Royal. Ledezma added 138 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.

Chivers had 89 yards on 13 carries for the Eagles.

The Knights advance to play Cascade (Leavenworth) (10-1) in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Dunn had nothing but good things to say about Royal following the game.

“They executed and we didn’t,” he said. “My hat’s off to them. They are a great football team.”