WIAA 1A state football championship: Royal races to historic five-peat behind record-setting Lance Allred

Knights' quarterback rushes for state championship game-record six touchdowns in team's 61-28 victory over Seton Catholic

Top-seeded Royal scored 27 unanswered points to begin second half, and posted a 61-28 win over No. 2 seed Seton Catholic to win WIAA Class 1A title. / Photo by Todd Milles

SEATTLE - With the game over, and his fantastic career concluded, reigning Royal state most valuable player Lance Allred was back to saying few words about the remarkable things that happened Friday in the WIAA Class 1A championship game.

As part of the Knights' historic five-peat effort, Allred completed his own record-setting feat - six touchdown runs, which had never happened in an 11-man state championship game.

The top-seeded Knights needed them, too.

Caught in a stalemate with No. 2 seed Seton Catholic, Allred and the Knights got in a groove after halftime to pull away for a 61-28 victory at Husky Stadium.

The all-state quarterback registered scoring runs of 39, 19, 3, 14, 49 and 48 yards as part of his 21-carry, 203-yard performance. He also passed for 200 yards and a score, finishing with 403 yards of total offense.

Asked how he elevates his play in the biggest game, Allred shrugged his shoulders: "I don't know. I can't take all the credit ... because three of those runs were wide open."

His coach - and great-uncle Wiley Allred - gave more of an explanation.

"A lot of times, he just ad-libs," Wiley Allred said. "It's in these big games where he's shined the brightest."

Trico champion Seton Catholic was a worthy challenger, erased an early deficit on Ryker Ruelas' 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. And after a Santana Luna fumble late in the first half, Kolten Gesser found Tedd Wieczorek for a 15-yard score to tie the game at 21-21 with 28 seconds remaining before intermission.

Suddenly, the Knights were the ones reeling - and had to regroup in the locker room.

"We said, 'Are we going to have the same thing happen in the second half?' I don't think so," Wiley Allred said. "We needed to play a little more error-free, and we opened up the offense a little bit because we score fast that way."

Then came the Royal scoring onslaught - 27 points in a row.

The Knights opened the second half by going 70 yards in eight plays - capped by Lance Allred's 4-yard score.

Then, it was Seton Catholic which blinked - getting stopped cold on a fake punt on fourth and 3 on its opening series at the Cougars' 35.

Two plays later, Allred bolted in from 14 yards out, and the Knights were up, 35-21 with six minutes remaining in the quarter.

And in the fourth quarter, the secondary took over with a pair of interception returns for touchdowns - Ben Jenks' 37-yarder and Jackson Larsen's 69-yarder as part of the defenses four picks of Gesser.

It led to a big Royal celebration of five consecutive Class 1A championships, which has never been done in any classification.

"It's pretty humbling," Wiley Allred said. "You saw the kids out on the field, they bust their butts."

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