FINLEY -- Behind Alex Myrick's three touchdown runs, Royal defeated River View on the road 42-24 on Friday night, setting up next week's 1A SCAC East first-place showdown against Connell.
The Knights and the Eagles enter next Friday's matchup with matching 6-1, 4-0 records.
"We're excited to play for the league championship," Royal coach Wiley Allred said. "Hopefully we show better than we did last year (in a 50-14 loss to Connell)."
After leading 14-10 at halftime, Royal exploded for 21 third-quarter points, including Myrick's touchdown from a yard out, to put away River View (5-2, 3-2).
Myrick finished with 16 rushes for 150 yards and threw for 169 yards.
"We had a good third quarter and got a couple turnovers," Allred said. "But we're getting too many penalties still (the Knights had 13 for 120 yards). We need to get that under control and play with fewer mistakes next week."
Austin Weatherby threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers.
Royal 42, River View 24
Royal 7 7 21 7 -- 42
River View 0 10 7 7 -- 24
SCORING PLAYS
Roy--Christian Guerrero 9 pass from Alex Myrick (Jose Gaxiola kick)
RV--Joe Scott 38 interception return (Mendoza kick)
Roy--Myrick 12 run (Gaxiola kick)
RV--FG Mendoza 27
Roy--Myrick 1 run (Gaxiola kick)
Roy--Damien DeLaRosa 4 run (Gaxiola kick)
Roy--Daniel Vermeer 33 pass from Myrick (Gaxiola kick)
RV--Cody Hand 23 pass from Weatherby (Mendoza kick)
Roy--Myrick 18 run (Gaxiola kick)
RV--Dylan Thomas 8 pass from Weatherby (Mendoza kick)
STATISTICS
RUSHING--Roy, Myrick 16-150, DeLaRosa 11-63, Alex Ramirez 10-40, Guerrero 3-20, Brady Dixon 2-6. RV, Kody Bartlett 5-26, Mendoza 5-5, Weatherby 2-2.
PASSING--Roy, Myrick 12-26-1-169. RV, Weatherby 19-40-2-214.
RECEIVING--Roy, Vermeer 2-54, Guerrero 4-52, Johnny Villenueva 2-28, Dixon 2-23, DeLaRosa 1-9, Zach Christensen 1-3. RV, Josh Marshall 6-75, Mendoza 2-36, Hand 2-28, Thomas 3-28, Ruvim Tyutyunnik 2-23, Bartlett 4-24.
FIRST DOWNS--Roy 25, RV 14. FUMBLES-LOST--Roy 3-2, RV 4-2. PENALTIES-YARDS--Roy 13-120, RV 7-70.
