WIAA 1A football state championship: Royal romps to rare Washington four-peat
SEATTLE - Different setting, same result for Royal High School football in a WIAA championship game.
Junior Lance Allred was a one-man wrecking crew, accounting for 351 yards of total offense and six touchdowns, plus two interceptions on defense as the top-seeded Knights toppled No. 2 Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, 49-7, in the Class 1A championship game Friday at Husky Stadium.
With the win, the Knights joined Bellevue (2001-04; 2008-11 in 3A) and Lacrosse-Washtucna (2002-05) as the only program in Washington state history to win four consecutive WIAA titles.
It was also the school's 12th state championship overall.
Allred capped Royal's first drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give the defending state champions a 7-0 lead. He later a 3-yard score midway through the second quarter.
The Knights' key sequence came late in the first half. Allred's 33-yard scoring scamper extended Royal's lead to 21-0 with 1:44 remaining.
Forty-five seconds later, Allred picked off Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls' quarterback Calvin Mikkelsen - one of the team's three interceptions on the day.
Two plays later, Allred connected with Caden Allred on a 31-yard touchdown down the left sideline, and the Knights' lead grew to 28-0 with 54 seconds to go before intermission.
Mikkelsen's 5-yard score to Hiro Patterson at the 3:12 mark of the third quarter ended Royal's 2023 state-playoff shutout streak at 177 minutes (three-plus games).
