ROYAL CITY — Coming off a 49-0 shutout of No. 9 seed Omak in the quarterfinals, the No. 1 Royal Knights are preparing for a 1A semifinal matchup against No. 12 Seton Catholic.

The Cougars recently defeated No. 4 Cashmere in comeback fashion, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bulldogs 42-35 last week

“They’re a pretty good team, and we’ve got to work hard,” Royal senior Noel Alatorre said. “Like every other game; just get into the mindset that we need to work harder than them.”

Both of Seton Catholic’s playoff games have ended in shootout fashion, defeating No. 5 King’s 56-48 in the first round before last week’s quarterfinal win over Cashmere. Throughout the regular season, the Cougars averaged 41.7 points per game.

“We’re hoping we don’t have a total shootout like that, but we need to score points and we need to help out defense out by getting them to punt the ball a few times,” Royal coach Wiley Allred said. “We need to control our offense a bit better than teams have recently.”

Fast players on the offensive side of the ball have allowed Seton Catholic to put points on the board this season, Allred added. 

“They’ve got great athletes, they’ve got a few kids that are fast,” Allred said. “They kind of went under the radar because they lost one game in their league to La Center, and not a lot of teams had seen them because their history isn’t real rich in football. The state’s finding out how good they are this year, and we’re well aware they’re an immensely talented team.”

“They’ve got fast guys, they’ve got good football players,” Royal senior Case Christensen said. “We’re practicing for it, I think we’ll be ready.”

While Seton Catholic’s pass-happy offense has been a key factor in team putting up points, Allred said the Cougars have run the ball well this season.

“Just having a lot of communication with the team,” Alatorre, a member of Royal’s defensive line, said of what it’ll take to win Saturday. “Just going out there and trying our best.”

Saturday’s game will mark the seventh straight season that the Knights have played in the 1A semifinals, winning six of those games over that span. While players on this year’s roster have playoff experience from last season’s title run, Allred said it still comes down to executing on the field.

“I don’t know how much (the experience) does or doesn’t we just try to get ready the same way we have all year,” Allred said. “We just know we’ve got to give our best effort, execute to our abilities and keep striving for excellence every week.”

    Royal junior Jackson Larsen tracks a thrown ball against Eatonville on Nov. 10.
  

Don’t let Seton Catholic’s No. 12 seeding fool you; the Cougars enter the game at 11-1, winners of their last five contests. Their only loss this season was a 14-13 game against La Center, who also qualified for the 1A playoffs as a No. 8 seed. 

“I think anybody in the semifinals is going to have momentum or confidence, and the belief that they can win any game; what’s where they’re at, and that’s where we’re at,” Allred said. “In the semifinals, you get the last four teams and there’s no easy ones.”

Royal and Seton Catholic kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Royal High School. The winner advances to the 1A state title game at Husky Stadium in Seattle next week.

“I think we’re all excited,” Christensen said. “We’ve worked hard, we’ve made it this far; I think we deserve it.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Royal receivers Caden Allred (8) and Ben Jenks (10) celebrate in the end zone after Jenks caught a touchdown pass against Eatonville on Nov. 10.