ROYAL CITY — The Royal defense came up in big moments in the Knight’s 42-7 win over Othello on Friday night, intercepting four passes and sacking the quarterback twice.

Royal’s first interception of the night led to the Knights taking a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, and the second pick came as the Huskies were driving with the hope of cutting into the lead before the half.

“We’re still growing and getting better, but we were getting some good answers out of some kids,” Royal head coach Wiley Allred said. “Getting after the football. I thought they played solid all night, gave us plenty of opportunities on offense.”

The Huskies and Knights traded rushing touchdowns in the second quarter, the first of which came from Othello senior Alex Mendez before Royal junior Ethan Ellis scored on a six-yard run. Othello had the chance to add an additional score on a drive just before halftime, but Royal junior Ezra Jenks intercepted his first of two passes on the evening on a pass in the end zone to cut the Huskie drive short.

“I think it really killed their momentum and gave it to us going into halftime,” Jenks said. “We came back out with that momentum and carried it on through the rest of the game.”

Othello started with the ball in the second half, a drive that ended with Jenks securing his second interception of the night.

“We prepared a lot, and they threw a lot of different stuff at us,” Jenks said. “We were able to make the adjustment. I saw the post, and I was in the right spot at the right time.”

The Huskies went with a pass-heavy attack in Friday night’s loss, a move defensive coordinator Kevin Hale said was related to Othello starting senior Spencer Lawson under center after starting quarterback Maddox Martinez was injured in last week’s 27-20 win over Connell.

“We wanted to take our shots today, and we did,” Hale said. “There were times where we were getting some things, so there were some positives with that.”

Royal opened scoring Friday with a 45-yard touchdown pass from junior Lance Allred to junior Jackson Larsen. On the ensuing Knights drive, Allred ran the ball in from 10 yards out to put the Knights up 14-0.

“The screen helped, the (offensive line) was grinding the whole time,” Lance Allred said. “They opened it up pretty well that time.”

Allred’s second rushing score of the game came in the second quarter, reaching the endzone on a quarterback sneak from the Huskie one-yard line. Larsen caught his second touchdown in the third quarter on a 14-yard pass to the left corner of the endzone, and the final score of the night came off an 11-yard reception by senior Case Christensen.

“Poor tackling, no pressure and just the tiniest bit of a mistake and these guys are so good at exploiting those mistakes,” Hale said.

Royal travels to Zillah on Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

“Just keep going off that momentum we have,” Lance Allred said. “It just builds confidence knowing that we can do it.”

Othello opens up Central Washington Athletic Conference play at home against Ephrata on Friday at 7 p.m.

“This is already in the rearview mirror, so we’ve just got to think about Ephrata,” Hale said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids, and they got a pretty good schooling tonight against a really good football team. The more experience they get, the better they’re going to get. That’s really what we’re going to take away from it.”

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

Box Score

OTH: 0-7-0-0 7

ROY: 14-14-7-7 42