The King’s Knights erased six years of frustration last Saturday with a 42-21 victory over Hoquiam in the Class 1A state quarterfinals.
Or as the Knights referred to it, the “third round.”
After making it to the quarterfinal round in each of the the past six seasons — and losing each time — the Knights decided they were going to eliminate the word “quarterfinal” from their collective vocabulary and simply call the game “the third round.”
One can debate whether the linguistic game plan was a factor in last week’s victory, but the end result is that the Knights (11-1) get to play in the fourth round — or as it’s more commonly referred to, the semifinals.
“It’s like any kind of experience, once you reach it, it’s a kind of a surreal, numbing experience,” King’s head coach Jim Shapiro said. “It was an amazing day. I really felt like after the game that the kids gave me a gift. It was almost like they were presenting a present to me, just the way they were treating me and the way the parents were treating me. It’s like everyone kind of wanted it for me, which kind of goes against my nature because it’s all about the team, but it was just a great day and a great gift the kids brought home.”
Now the only thing standing in the Knights’ way of an appearance in the state-championship game is a 10-2 Montesano team.
The two squads have their share of history.
In King’s six consecutive quarterfinal losses, the Bulldogs knocked them out twice. King’s also beat Montesano in 2010 to advance to the quarterfinals, where it lost to Meridian.
“I think (the players) definitely know who Montesano is and they definitely know the history,” Shapiro said. “I think in any game like this there is a little motivation because of who you’re playing, but for the most part we’re focusing on who we are and really preaching 1-0 every week.”
When it comes to the game, Shapiro has seen enough of Montesano to get a pretty good idea what to expect.
“We’ve seen them and we’ve seen them often,” Shapiro said. “I know the coach really well and he’s a really knowledgeable coach and he gets a lot out of his kids.
“They’re going to run the ball consistently and be very efficient with it. Then they’re going to hit you with some play-action and some screens, so you really can’t play just one side of the ball.
“On defense, they’re going to be very aggressive and bring lots of pressure.”
That Montesano defense will be charged with slowing down a King’s team that averages 222 yards per game on the ground, led by junior running backs Caleb Perry and Andrew Cline, who have rushed for 936 and 930 yards, respectively.
King’s vs. Montesano
Where: Tacoma Dome
When: 1 p.m., Saturday
Key Players: King’s—Caleb Perry, jr., RB/DB; Andrew Cline, jr., RB/LB; Jake Welch, sr., WR/DB; Jack McCleod, sr., OL/DL; Duncan Cull, sr., TE/DL; Edmund Sundquist, sr., TE/DL; Cooper Wright, sr., RB/LB; Ryne Badgley, sr., OL/DL; Joe Green, fr., WR/LB; Koa Wilkins, sr., QB/DB. Montesano—Logan Truax, sr., RB/LB; Jake Herzog, sr., QB/DB; Kylar Prante, sr., RB/DB; Kyle Englund, sr., RB/DL; Alex Hopsecger, sr., WR/DB.
Records: King’s 11-1. Montesano 10-2.
Twitter: @aaronlommers, @Krueger_David and @heraldnetpreps
Herald Pick: King’s
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