After Colville scored last Saturday night to get within 21-7 of the No. 1-ranked class A high school football team in the state, one of the chain gang members said: “It should be 21-21.”

It should have been 21-0 after one quarter and 35-7 now, I reminded the man from Colville. He looked at me quizzically.

The 35-yard touchdown pass and 60-yard scoring punt return called back on penalties in the first period, remember?

Then the man said: “Our boys are not playing like they usually do.” He failed to notice our boys hardly allowed his to play at all.

If not for the officiating, this would not have been a contest. Royal came out hot, like normal. The boys in black kicked off, stuffed Colville’s first attempt at a drive, forced a punt, then turned their first possession into a touchdown.

Colville botched the next kickoff and Royal recovered. From the Colville 35-yard line, Royal scored on a pass. The Knights were caught with an ineligible receiver downfield, and the TD was nullified.

The Indians got the ball at their 5 after a Royal punt. They got to the 17 and were forced to punt. Royal ran the ball back to the end zone but was caught holding.

Colville was flagged nearly as many times (10) as Royal (12), but Colville’s penalties didn’t hurt like Royal’s did. Colville was stopped by the Royal defense. Royal was stopped by the refs.

And the refs nearly helped Colville score just before half. Colville tried a fourth down pass from the Royal 31 that looked a lot like a Hail Mary. Safety Kaden Jenks soared above everyone else to knock the pass away incomplete with about 15 seconds left.

That fourth down gem would have ended the threat, but Jenks was flagged for pass interference. He was player who flew the highest and was the only one to touch the ball and, somehow, he committed a foul.

From the Royal 16, Colville moved the ball to the 7. Then Royal ended the threat with two tackles for loss.

The refs nearly helped Colville again at the start of the second half, after the Indians recovered a fumble at the Royal 20 on the Knights’ first play. Royal sustained a personal foul penalty and an offsides penalty and still stopped the Indians.

Even the touchdown Colville scored got a little boost from the officials. A penalty for illegal substitution put the ball at the Royal 1.

You probably think I report all of this to knock the refs. Nope. I write this to tell you how tough your football team is.

After a while, the catch phrase on the Royal bench was: Overcome.

The referees, that is.

And Royal did. Coach Wiley Allred asked his boys to run out the last 6:24, and they threw battering ram Joe Lang at the Indians over and over. The last three plays were knee touchdowns by Jenks.