WIAA semifinal football roundup: Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, Wilbur-Creston-Keller earn first trips to state title game

Of course, there is also three-time defending Class 1A champion Royal, which posted its third consecutive state-playoff shutout with a 41-0 win over Seton Catholic

Wiley Allred has seen his Royal High School football teams go on some pretty dominating runs in the WIAA playoffs.

Few will rival what the three-time defending Class 1A champions have going on right now.

Top-seeded Royal posted its third consecutive shutout Saturday - a 42-0 victory over visiting Seton Catholic in the state semifinals.

Combined with its previous two games, Royal has outscored opponents, 141-0, in the WIAA playoffs.

"It has been good so far," Allred said. "They are just dialed in really well."

Ethan Ellis rushed for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and quarterback Lance Allred had three rushing scores as the Knights jumped out to a 28-0 first-quarter lead.

"We were ripping off some really big plays," Allred said.

Seton Catholic finished with 178 yards, paced by Jacob Williams' 91 rushing yards.

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LAKESIDE OF NINE MILE FALLS EARNS FIRST GRIDIRON CLASSIC BERTH

Photo courtesy of Lakeside athletics

Second-seeded Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls erased a two-touchdown deficit to force overtime - and won it in overtime, 24-23, on Calvin Mikkelsen's 11-yard touchdown pass to Luke Pedersen and the all-important PAT kick in the Class 1A semifinals at Union Stadium in Spokane.

Nooksack Valley scored first in overtime on Colton Lentz's 14-yard touchdown gallop, but the PAT kick missed wide right. The Pioneers led 23-17.

The Eagles benefited from a pass-interference penalty on third-and-long that gave them the ball at the Pioneers' 11.

Mikkelsen then went to work on a run-pass option play, connecting with Pedersen in the left end zone for the touchdown.

"Resiliency and grit," Eagles coach Devin Bauer said about his team's winning traits. "We were down 14 points and did not blink an eye."

Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls advances to its first WIAA title game, and takes on the 11-time champions from Royal.

"Royal is always the measuring stick," Bauer said. "It's an honor to go up against that team, and we'll give them everything we can."

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WILBUR-CRESTON-KELLER BOOKS FIRST TRIP TO WIAA FINALS

Photo by Lane Mathews

Preston Michel rushed for 132 yards on 22 carries, including two touchdowns, and Kalub Dreger added 110 rushing yards and four total touchdowns as Wilbur-Creston-Keller stopped Mossyrock, 66-22, in the Class 1B semifinals at Lions Field in Moses Lake.

Kallen Maioho had a big day passing - 233 yards and four touchdowns, all before halftime.

"They all did a good job for us," Wildcats coach Darin Reppe said. "Our offensive line did another nice job, too, keeping our quarterback clean."

Easton Kolb, the Vikings' dual-threat quarterback, was briefly knocked out of the game on the team's second series. He returned, but was noticeably hobbled.

The Wildcats, who jumped out to a 20-0 lead, limited Mossyrock to 41 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

"We went into this game with a physical mindset," Reppe said.

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