ROYAL CITY — After winning their sixth straight 1A state championship last season, the Royal Knights (13-0) aren’t focused on the past – they're only looking to the future.  

“We look forward, and this year is going to be unique,” Head Coach Wiley Allred said. “The games will be different, and we're going to be better than we were a year ago if we can. We'll be a different team, a different group of guys, with a lot of the same faces, but not all of them. Mostly looking forward but keep the same standard and expectations as the previous year.”  

With each new season, each team brings some uniqueness for the season, Allred said. The Knights graduated a lot of players from last season like Shea Stevenson, Anderson Brown, Bryan Larson and Rolando Cedillo. However, they return players like Fischer Livingston, Dax Jenks and quarterback Grant Wardenaar.

In his second year as the man behind center, Wardenaar is eager to build on his leadership this season, he said. Last season, he learned a lot about leadership from Stevenson and hopes to build on the tools he got from him.  

“He was good at leading by example,” Wardenaar said. “He didn't really say that much, but he led by example. I can lead vocally and just kind of take leadership from him.”  

Much like last season, Wardenaar expects to play on both sides of the ball – playing cornerback on defense. In a winning Knights program, the sentiment of only looking forward trickles down to the players, too.  

“What's in the past is in the past. This a brand new team and we just got to keep going,” said Wardenaar. “Obviously the goal is to win a state championship, and we just got to keep going and practice hard every single day and not get too cocky and just keep working hard. I feel like we're all just super hungry and we want to win.” 

Allred holds a lot of confidence in Wardenaar this season after seeing how he approached the offseason. 

“He's had a good off season, gotten stronger, and that experience and all that should help him be a little more comfortable,” Allred said. “Hopefully he's going to improve in a lot of areas, and I think he will. He probably already has with some of the offseason stuff we've done in camp and in the weight room.” 

Allred feels he will know what this team is made of within the first couple weeks of the season. They start on the road against Lakeside on Sep 4 before hosting the Cashmere Bulldogs in a 1A state title rematch, where the Knights were victorious 21-20 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.  

“We're going to know right away where we're at,” Allred said. “We'll keep striving to get better, but that's going to give a lot of indication for our league early on.”  

With a lot of key players returning to the gridiron for the Knights this fall, Allred expects his offense to run the ball effectively behind a talented offensive line which will ideally help them push the ball down the field through the air. The system will be tweaked but familiar.  

“We've got some good running backs; Dax Jenks and Jackson Flood are coming back,” the coach said. “We're looking forward to the receivers with Fischer Livingston as a returning starter, and then adding Scout Stevenson and Manny Ruvalcaba, some other kids in that mix, and then our offensive line with David Baeza, Leo Bustos and Orlando Santillon's a returning starter.” 

On the defensive side of the ball, the Knights expect Orlando Santiago, Krew Jenks, Ernie Weeks, Tyce Christensen, David Jimenez, Brayan Miron and Easton Eilers to make an impact throughout the season.  

“Then in the secondary we have guys returning as Fischer Livingston, Dax Jenks, Grant Wardenaar, and then there'll be competition for some other spots with another spot with Manny Ruvalcaba and Scout Stevenson,” Allred said. 

The Knights have won 44-straight games, which includes three consecutive undefeated seasons. In addition to their sixth straight state title, they have won 10 out of the last 11. While this naturally builds a strong reputation around the Knights each year, Allred doesn’t want his players to feel the pressure of what they’ve done in the past.  

“They have to know that they're out there just to perform and do their best and to be fearless,” he said. “We kind of look forward to it. There are some people watching us and the program has some eyes on it. But in the same token, we want our kids just to play free and fearless. Like yeah, we have a pretty good streak going back about 11-12 years, but this year's team is going to be different, and they've got to just play to their strength and do their best and not worry about what happened before.” 

    The Knights’ Grant Wardenaar (left) hands the ball off to running back Dax Jenks (right) during a drill at practice.
  

    Center and nose tackle Krew Jenks works through a protection drill at the Royal Knights practice.
  

    The Royal Knights Head Coach Wiley Allred (right) gives direction to his players during a drill at practice.
  

    Offensive and Defensive Line Coach Carter Christensen (holding football) works with the trench players on form during a drill at the Royal Knights practice.
  

    During a route drill, wide receiver Fischer Livingston hauls in a catch.