ROYAL CITY — A trip across the Cascades to Seattle awaits the No. 1 seed Royal Knights, who will face off against No. 2 Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) on Friday in the 1A state football championship.

The Knights have won three straight state championships and are seeking their 12th overall title.

“We’ve been pretty blessed,” Royal coach Wiley Allred said. “The kids work hard, pay attention to detail and worked hard again this year to get to where we’re at. We’re preparing to win it, and know it’s going to be a battle.”

After a 42-7 win over Chelan in the 1A District 6/7 Crossover, the Lakeside Eagles rattled off postseason wins over No. 15 Life Christian Academy (41-14), No. 10 Freeman (24-20) and No. 6 Nooksack Valley (24-23) to reach the 1A championship.

“They’re gritty and tough, and they’ve got a lot of kids that have played a ton of football,” Wiley Allred said. “They beat a couple of really good football teams along the way.”

Lakeside (12-0) came out on top of the Northeast 1A league, averaging just shy of 31 points per game during the regular season. Royal and Lakeside share a common opponent, having both defeated Lynden Christian; Royal defeated the Lyncs 28-7 on the road Sept. 23, while the Eagles won 14-8 in their season opener at home Sept. 1

“Running vertically, obviously they have some pretty good athletes, a really good quarterback,” Royal junior Lance Allred said. “They’re well-coached.”

Under center for the Eagles is senior Calvin Mikkelsen, a dual threat at the position with the ability to throw from the pocket and make plays with his legs.

“It makes it a little more challenging, you have to contain him in the pocket,” Lance Allred said. “It’s a little hard to prepare for because they don’t just have to hand it off to their running back; he can take it, they can do a lot of different things with it.”

Royal has some experience against mobile quarterbacks from this season.

“We’ve faced other teams like that, they just do it a little better than some of those other teams,” Wiley Allred said. “We’ve just got to stay in our positions on defense, rally to the ball and tackle.”

To be able to slow down Lakeside’s offense, Royal senior Juan Morales said it comes down to being sound in your positioning.

“We’re just going to have to hit our gaps, play hard and go low,” he said. “Be physical and beat them up front, and I think we’ll be good.”

Defensively, the Eagles have surrendered 12.5 points per game through their 12 games this fall. For Royal, the Knights have shut out their last three opponents and have only allowed seven touchdowns this season; the most points a team has scored on Royal’s defense this season was 13 (Oct. 20 against College Place).

“Execution on offense, blocking — we’ve got to make some plays, break some tackles,” Wiley Allred said. “They rally fast, their defense is aggressive — as is ours.”

The last three 1A state championship trophies have been lifted by Royal; 2019 was a 26-22 win over Lynden Christian, 2021 saw a 41-0 win over Eatonville and last season was a 35-20 win over Mount Baker. 

Royal has numerous starters returning from last year’s title run, as well as a handful of players who were on the 2021 roster as freshmen and sophomores.

“I’m really excited to go and play in it again,” Morales said. “We’re going to go out there and do what we have to do.”

Kickoff between the Eagles and Knights is at 3 p.m. Friday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

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

    Members of the Royal defense rally to make a tackle against Seton Catholic on Saturday. The Royal defense has only given up seven touchdowns this season.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald   

    Royal junior Jackson Larsen, right, looks to shake off a Seton Catholic defender.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald   

    Royal junior Lance Allred carries the ball into the end zone on one of his three touchdown runs against Seton Catholic in the 1A state football semifinals.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald