Top-ranked Royal defeats Colville in State 1A football quarterfinal

Colville football coach Randy Cornwell said his team had No. 1-ranked Royal well scouted.

The problem was, the Knights were well prepared for the Indians, too.

Royal put the Indians in a hole that they couldn’t escape as the Knights prevailed 21-7 in a State 1A quarterfinal Saturday at Albi Stadium.

The Knights (12-0) meet Connell (11-1) in the semifinals next week.

Royal moved the ball effectively behind senior running back Joseph Lang and junior quarterback Kaden Jenks.

Jenks scrambled out of the pocket and hit receiver Sam Christensen 28 yards in the back of the end zone for the opening touchdown.

Then Lang took over. He finished with 176 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns.

Royal had two touchdowns called back on penalties in the first quarter or the game might have spiraled out of control early.

The Knights also caught Colville (10-2) off guard with two pooch kicks that Royal recovered.

By the time Colville started moving the ball, it trailed 21-0.

“They punched us in the mouth right away it took us a while to recover,” Cornwell said.

Colville had the final possession of the first half. The Indians’ 12-play drive stalled after they moved to Royal’s 7-yard line. With no timeouts, quarterback Jack Hinds was tackled for no gain as time expired.

“That was a huge stop by them at the end of the half,” Cornwell said. “We were really, really disappointed. We thought we could do better offensively but credit to their defense.”

On the first play of the second half, Royal had its lone turnover. Colville took over at the Knights’ 20.

The Indians got to the 1, but a 6-yard loss on a sack and an incomplete pass on fourth down stopped the possession.

“We started competing better in the second half,” Cornwell said. “Offensively, we never got what we hoped. (The Royal fumble) we didn’t capitalize on it. That was terrible. We just left a lot of stuff out here.”

Hinds scored Colville’s lone touchdown from 1 yard out with 6:24 remaining. By then, it was too late.

Royal ran out the rest of the clock.

“We did some uncharacteristic things,” Cornwell said. “A penalty when we’re on the 1, that’s uncharacteristic. In the red zone we’re 95 percent.”

“That’s the best offense we’ve seen all season,” Cornwell said of Royal. “We knew what they were going to do and they did it anyway. They’re a good club.”

Cornwell also praised his team, which graduated 18 of 22 starters from the team that advance to the state title game a year ago.

“For these kids to come back and have the kind of year they had was incredible,” Cornwell said. “They got a taste of the whole state (playoff) thing and they worked their butts off over the winter. I think we surpassed everybody’s expectations – a real credit to those kids.”