Connell, Royal both win

The game was essentially a wash. Connell scored its two touchdowns in the first half. Zillah scored its two touchdowns in the second half.

The difference? One snap and one hold.

The Eagles converted on both extra point attempts, while the Leopards muffed their second attempt midway through the fourth quarter as Connell held on for a 14-13 win Saturday afternoon at Lampson Stadium in a 1A state quarterfinal football playoff game.

“This was huge,” said Connell quarterback Brian Hawkins. “We knew they wanted revenge.”

Connell advances to the semifinals where it will play SCAC East rival Royal, which beat Colville 21-7 on Saturday.

Hawkins was referring to the Eagles’ 31-28 win less than a month ago.

This game was just as close, with both teams taking their turns at dominating the football game.

Connell took its turn first, scoring two first-half touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead at halftime.

The defense allowed just 48 yards of offense to the Leopards in the first 24 minutes, who looked out of sorts on offense.

Zillah struck in the second half behind the arm of junior quarterback Troy Delp, leading two touchdown scoring drives.

“We had the momentum first and I think we should have scored a few more times,” said Connell coach Wayne Riner. “They got the momentum in the second half. That’s high school football. I’m just glad we came out on top.”

The Difference

With 7:11 left in the game, Blaine Ross rumbled in the end zone from 8 yards out to cut the Eagles’ lead to 14-13.

The Leopards were an extra point away from tying the game they once trailed 14-0.

But problems with the snap and the hold left Zillah scrambling and ultimately had its pass attempt fall short in the end zone to keep Connell ahead by 1.

At first, Riner thought Zillah was going for two points and the win.

Zillah had a final chance to win the game, but Delp was intercepted by Brenden Turner at the 4-yard line with 1:28 left in the game.

Starting Fast

Connell used its ground game to set the tone in the first half.

The Eagles scored on their second possession when Hawkins scored on a 5-yard quarterback keeper to take a 7-0 advantage.

Connell extended the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter when Hawkins hit a streaking Steven Kroontje down the sideline for a 57-yard scoring play with 9:16 left in the first half.

That would be the last Connell score of the game.

In fact, the Eagles would only cross over into Zillah territory two more times in the game.

After the Leopards scored in the third quarter to cut the margin to 14-7, Connell played keep away from Delp and Zillah.

The Eagles got the ball with 7:05 left in the third quarter and proceeded to use more than 8 minutes on the clock.

Connell ran 17 plays and went 71 yards.

The drive featured three fumbles by Hawkins, including two on one play.

But the drive was halted at the Leopards 1-yard line.

ROYAL 21, COLVILLE 7: Joe Lang rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns for Royal in the largely defensive game against Colville for a victory.

The win sets up a showdown next weekend in the semifinals between the Knights and SCAC East rival Connell, with the winner earning a berth to the state championship.

The win also redeems Royal’s 28-10 quarterfinals loss to Colville last season.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Connell, Royal both win."