Royal and Tri-Cities Prep chase WA state football titles in Seattle

Wiley Allred said he doesn’t remember any time that he or his family have set aside time for the first weekend of December for a family get together in Royal City.

“We leave this weekend open,” said Wiley, Royal’s long-time head football coach.

It’s not arrogance when Allred says that. It’s just that the first weekend of December is reserved for the WIAA state football championships.

Starting Friday, there will be three state finals at Husky Stadium on the University of Washington campus:

• At 11 a.m., the 1B title game will feature Richland’s Liberty Christian (12-1) against DeSales (13-0) of Walla Walla.

• At 3 p.m., Allred’s Knights (12-0) will play their 1A South Central Athletic Conference rival, Cashmere (11-1).

• At 7 p.m., the 3A title game will pit O’Dea (11-1) vs. Mount Tahoma (13-0).

On Saturday, three more state champions will be determined:

• At 11 a.m., Tri-Cities Prep (13-0) will take on Toledo (12-0) in the 2B championship;

• At 3 p.m., the 2B championship will pit Archbishop Murphy (12-0) against Tumwater (12-1);

• At 7 p.m., the 4A title game features defending state champion Sumner (10-3) against Lake Stevens (13-0).

Allred doesn’t ever believe it’s a lock for Royal to be in the title game annually.

“We (leave the weekend open) realizing it may not happen,” he said. “But we will have a family gathering (on Friday in Seattle).”

Royal has won an astounding 1A state title eight of the last nine times the game has been played (no game in 2020 thanks to covid).

The Knights got back to Seattle this time by beating Lynden Christian 61-35 last weekend in the state semifinals.

Royal led just 14-12 after one quarter before scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to put the game away.

Dax Jenks had a monster game for the Knights, rushing for 226 yards on 22 carries, and scoring five touchdowns. On defense, Jenks led Royal with 13 tackles (1 for loss).

Quarterback Grant Wardenaar was 16 for 21 for 216 yards passing and a TD, and he rushed 7 times for 64 more yards and two touchdowns. Now it’s a second go-round with Cashmere. The Bulldogs led early in their contest at Royal in late September. But the Knights rallied to tie the game, go to overtime, and win 21-15.

Cashmere gave Royal its toughest game this season. But as Allred interjects, “We gave them their toughest game too.”

A lot of this Knights squad played JV ball last season, said Allred.

“We had a bunch of guys new to varsity football, and they had to grow up a lot,” Allred said. “They kept fighting and played hard.”

To beat Cashmere, Royal will have to control the Bulldogs star quarterback, Rylan Hatmaker; and find a way to keep star receiver Logan Spies from getting the ball.

Meanwhile, Wardenaar (2,429 passing yards, 39 TD passes) and receiver Shea Stevenson (46 catches for 853 yards and 17 TDs) will lead the way for the Knights.

2B title game

It didn’t look good early last week for Tri-Cities Prep.

Visiting Adna jumped out to a quick 14-0 first quarter lead, and Jaguars coach Kyle Cairns needed something to happen if the Jaguars were to stay in last Saturday’s semifinal game at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.

It happened. Prep responded with an 8-play, 66-yard drive, culminating with a Jameson Elliott 4-yard touchdown run.

Adna then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Prep marched 27 yards on 9 plays, the final being a 1-yard Jake Sherfey run, knotting the game at 14-14.

From there on, each team answered the other in either a score or a defensive stop. Finally, with the game tied at 28-28, Aiden McCabe found the end zone on an 8-yard TD run with 3:59 to play for a 34-28 and a win.

One of the keys for the Jags was to find a way to slow down Pirates running back Beau Miller, who would finish with 242 yards rushing on 38 carries.

In the second half, Cairns would send a defensive back or linebacker into the backfield to hit Miller right after he got the handoff. It was enough to slow him down and let the secondary make the stop.

“Our No. 50 (James Koskinen) did a great job of shooting the gap,” said Cairns. “Tonight it came down to just a few turnovers in untimely spots.”

Offensively, Sherfey rushed 14 times for 85 yards, and he had 8 tackles (1 for loss) on defense.

Jarrett Garza added 11 tackles on defense.

Adna coach Aaron Cochran and Cairns were high school teammates at Goldendale, and Cairns was an assistant for Cochran at Goldendale after their playing days.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Cairns of the win over his long-time friend. “I wish this game was the championship game.”

But the championship will be Saturday, with Prep playing No. 1 seed Toledo.

Offensively, it all starts with quarterback Jarrett Garza for Prep. He’s passed for 1,812 yards and 30 TDs this season.

But Garza has plenty of options, starting with running back Sherfey (91 carries for 1,045 yards and 21 TDs).

Jameson Elliott is the team’s Swiss Army Knife. He can hurt you rushing for a score, intercepting a pass for a score, and run back a kickoff at any time. Altogether, Elliott has found the end zone 30 times this season.

Prep will have to find a way to stop Riverhawks quarterback Eli Weeks.

He has over 3,000 yards in total offense: 2,115 passing yards with 24 TD passes; and 1,787 rushing yards and 20 more touchdowns.

In addition, the Jaguars must find a way to contain receiver Adam Kruger (48 receptions, 1,378 yards, 22 touchdowns).

One of the keys for Prep is that there is a corps of players on the roster who have been part of three consecutive state 2B baseball titles for the Jaguars.

“There is a mentality of being a champion,” said Cairns. “Prep baseball coach) Jason Jarrett has done a great job with these guys.”

1B title game

Craig Lukins’ Liberty Christian Patriots lost in last year’s state championship game to Almira-Coulee-Hartline. The Pats also lost a number of seniors last year to graduation.

But Lukins says that the underclassmen have been driven to get back to the title game.

“This group, after we lost last year, I had 10 to 12 juniors and sophomores texting me, wanting to know if the weight room would be open on Monday morning,” said Lukins. “We were pretty confident we could get back.”

But Lukins points out they still had five starters back on defense.

And Trenten Ralston was stepping into the quarterback spot.

He’s been outstanding all season, passing for 1,562 yards and 33 touchdowns, while rushing for 489 more yards and 9 TDs.

Last Saturday, LC took down previously unbeaten Wahkiakum 36-18 in the semifinals in Richland.

Ralston was 8 for 11 for 170 passing yards and three TD passes, and he rushed 9 times for 89 yards.

Running back Silas Bjur added 95 yards rushing and two scores.

On defense, Ryan Powell was in on 14 tackles (7 for loss) and had 5 of the Patriots’ 9 quarterback sacks. Teammate Ryker Wageman added 16 tackles (1 for loss) and had an interception.

Now, Lukins and the Pats meet Southeast 1B rival DeSales, which sits at 12-0 and handed LC its only loss this season: a 36-28 verdict on Oct. 24.

One or two game plan tweaks could be the difference in two coaching staffs who know each other so well.

“That’s really how it feels,” said Lukins. “What adjustments will they make? What adjustments will we make? It’s really a chess match. (DeSales head coach) Josh (Richard) is a good dude. We’ve talked to each other a lot this week. It should be fun.”

Irish QB Cohen Wood is the key for DeSales. He’s passed for 2,624 yards this season, and thrown 48 TD passes. Wood has also rushed for 916 yards and 16 more scores.

Running back Caleb Bingham has run for 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“We have to hold onto the football,” said Lukins. “We can’t have turnovers. And on defense, we have to eliminate the big play by their quarterback.”

-Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.