ROYAL CITY - Connell took advantage of a defense weakened by injury late in the game to blow open an epic battle and pull away for a 49-28 win.

The victory gave Connell the South Central 1A East Conference title and left Royal in second place. Both will move on to post-season play.

Royal will conclude its SCAC schedule with a game at Kiona-Benton this Friday and a home game next week against the SCAC West No. 2 team.

On Friday, Oct. 21, the Knights and Eagles went after each other like a couple of heavyweights trading haymakers to tie the score 28-28 in the fourth quarter.

The game broke in Connell's favor midway through the quarter when Royal's Alex Myrick, who plays quarterback and defensive back, was hurt and unable to play. The Eagles spotted the weakness and sent Matt Hadley through that area on a 60-yard scoring jaunt.

"On one series he (Alex) could not throw the ball, and that really affected us," Allred said.

Then with about five minutes to go, the Eagles, leading 35-28, intercepted an Alex Myrick pass and gave themselves a short field. Eagle quarterback Chandler Salisbury scored from three yards to increase the lead to 42-28.

"It was a really fun game until right at the end," coach Wiley Allred said. "It was a really intense game. The kids played well. They played hard."

Hadley started the scoring with a 24-yard run in the first quarter. Christian Guerrero of the Knights tied things up, at 7-7, on a fumble recovery in the end zone. Connell scored, then Guerrero scored on a 35-yard pass from Myrick for a half-time tie at 14-14.

Royal scored first in the third quarter on a Myrick 5-yard run to take a 21-14 lead. Then Hadley broke loose on a 62-yard romp to tie the score again.

Connell reclaimed the lead, 28-21, then Royal tied, 28-28 on a 23-yard pass from Myrick to Brady Dixon.

Overall, Hadley was just too much for the Royal defense. He finished the night with 271 yards on 24 rushes. Alex Ramirez ran well for Royal, gaining 94 yards on 19 carries. Myrick netted 35 yards on 14 carries.

The quarterback battle was fairly even. Salisbury completed 12 of 17 passes for 148 yards and suffered one interception. Myrick went 8-12 for 177 yards and was intercepted twice.

Guerrero had a fine receiving night, gathering three passes for 69 yards. Damien DeLaRosa had three catches for 52 yards. Ramirez and Dixon caught single passes for 33 and 23 yards respectively.

The defensive effort was led by Dixon and Johnny Villanueva. Dixon was in on 15 tackles. Villanueva participated in nine, recovered a fumble and tipped a pass.

Defensive linemen Carter Christensen and Reed Lefler participated in seven and four tackles respectively. Sophomore Mario Coria, was in 10 tackles as a replacement for the injured Justin Edwards.

DeLaRosa and Myrick batted down one pass each, barely missing interceptions.