WIAA: 1A Royal Knights 4-peats as Champions!

12/1/2023

Royal 49, Lakeside 7

(Seattle, WA) The Royal Knights came into the Championship game with 11 big trophies to their credit the last 3 in a row and 6 of the last 7. Under coach Wiley Allred they have 10 of the 11 titles with 1 runner-up. Prior to Allred Royal won the 1996 Championship and took 2nd once with coach Bob Nielsen for an 11-2 record in state title games. The Knights have only faced 1 opponent twice in their 11 wins, Connell so they have 11 trophies against 10 different teams. Ironically their 2 losses in 1994 and then in 2012 were against Montesano.

The Lakeside (9-Mile) Eagles have already had their best season in school history and is the 11th different team to try and knock off Royal. The Eagles came in as the Royals undefeated.

The Knights clearly have the experience edge and showed that immediately scoring on their 1st possession when junior QB Lance Allred ran it in from the 12-yard line, Anderson Brown booted through the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 6:05 to go in the 1st quarter.

Lakeside and Royal would then get in a punting contest back and forth for 4 possessions each when the Eagles would take over on the 50 yard line. Facing a 4th and 7 the Eagles attempted a fake punt but threw an incomplete pass turning it over to the Knights on their own 47. Allred would get things started with long pass from Lance Allred to Jackson Larsen. Allred would run in his 2nd TD of the game from the 3-yard line and with the successful PAT Royal led 14-0 with 7:30 to go in the half.

Royal then kicked it into gear with their stifling defense holding the Eagles to just 46 total yards and forced 2 more punts. On both occasions the Knights would score. Allred broke free for a 36-yard dash for his 3rd TD of the half to go up 21-0 and capped off the half with a brilliant pass from Lance Allred to cousin Caden Allred for 31 yards and the 4th TD of the half going into the break with a 28-0 lead.

Royal added to their lead on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter with an impressive 10 play drive finished off with a 9 yard touchdown pass from Allred to Shea Stevenson to push their lead to 35-0.

Lakeside bounced back on their 1st possession of the 3rd quarter highlighted with a pair of huge 4th down conversions including the touchdown. The 1st 4th and 7 was a 13-yard completion from Calvin Mikkelson to Hiro Patterson. On 4th and goal from the 9 Mikkelson’s pass was incomplete but a pass interference gave them another shot from just inside the 5 and this time Mikkelson found Patterson for the score. Noah Hamilton added the PAT and it was 35-7.

Lakeside then kicked the onside kick and it bounced off a Knight where the Eagles Duke Johnson fell on it energizing the Eagles sideline and fans. But the drive would stall and Lakeside could not keep up the momentum.

Royal would 2 more touchdowns when Allred found Case Christensen for a 33-yard TD pass and catch with the PAT to extend their lead to 42-7 and then would put it away in the 4th quarter with a 5-yard blast from senior Jared Lee for the final 49-7 score.

Lance Allred was named by our ESN crew as the MVP as he finished the night with 351 total yards of offense and 3 rushing and 3 passing touchdowns.

Royal picked up their 12th Championship trophy and finished the season 13-0. Lakeside dropped to 12-1 and took home the 2nd place trophy.

Link to watch full replay on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)

Final Stats

Royal

Rushing Yards: 260
Passing Yards: 182
Total Yards: 442

Passing
Lance Allred 12-16-1 3TD

Receiving
Jackson Larsen 4/57
Case Christensen 3/64 1TD
Bennett Brown 2/14
Caden Allred 1/31 1TD

Rushing
Lance Allred 28/169 3TD
Jared Lee 8/48 1TD
Ethan Ellis 10/44

Lakeside

Rushing Yards: 44
Passing Yards: 135
Total Yards: 179

Passing
Calvin Mikkelson 13-32-3 1TD