King’s rocks Granite Falls

Playing once again on a rain-soaked field, King’s opted to turn away from the passing game and focus instead on the rushing game.

It turned out to be a wise decision.

Junior quarterback Thomas Vincent had 37 carries for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and King’s decisively defeated Granite Falls 31-6 in a Cascade Conference football game Oct. 23 at Granite Falls High School.

“Our philosophy is always to go with what works,” King’s head coach Jim Shapiro said. “We (were running the ball well), so we stuck with it.”

Vincent also completed eight of 16 pass attempts for 146 yards and a 66-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Jaeger.

It was another statistically impressive performance by Vincent in poor conditions.

Unlike last week’s 51-7 victory over Sultan, this time the rain stopped before kickoff, meaning turnovers – King’s forced a whopping nine the week before – didn’t play as big a role for either side.

The King’s defense still came through – Shapiro said they held a banged-up Granite Falls team to about 116 yards of offense.

Senior Jackson Lilleness turned in what Shapiro described as “a great night,” leading King’s with four solo tackles, six tackles for losses and one sack. Shapiro also credited linebackers Ben Johnson and Michael McCardle with containing the Granite Falls run attack on the outside.

“We proved we could stop the run,” Shapiro said.

After a scoreless first quarter where Granite Falls stopped King’s from scoring at the goal line, the Knights busted out for 17 points in the second quarter.

King’s then put the game away with a 14-point fourth quarter, including a 60-yard drive that spanned the last four minutes of the third quarter and couple minutes of the fourth quarter, culminating in 4-yard touchdown run by Vincent.

Granite Falls (1-5 league, 2-6 overall) was led by senior Coty Walker’s 100 rushing yards on 19 carries and one touchdown and Zach Jones chipped in 14 tackles on defense.

Shapiro said that 1A King’s is now one very tough win away from a Cascade Conference title.

The Knights (5-1, 6-2 overall) finish their season against 2A state power Archbishop Murphy, ranked No. 3 in Washington state by The Tacoma News Tribune.

By defeating Archbishop Murphy this Friday, King’s would force a tie atop the Cascade Conference with both teams 6-1 in league. Should that happen, King’s will hold the head-to-head advantage. If Cedarcrest – which has defeated King’s this year but lost to Archbishop Murphy – wins its regular season finale at Lakewood, it would make three teams 6-1 atop the Cascade Conference standings.

“The kids are excited to be in the mix and play for a league championship,” Shapiro said.

Beating Archbishop Murphy will be challenging – Shapiro said King’s has never done it before – but Wildcats starting running back Alex Martinez has been hampered by injury. If Archbishop Murphy – which has already clinched the top 2A seed to districts – decides not to play Martinez, it could help King’s chances of an upset.

“For years everyone talked about their offense,” Shapiro said of Archbishop Murphy, “but I think their unsung hero is defense. … Offensively we have to get points on the board. … Defensively, we have to contain, not give up the big play, make them move the chains. … (to) give us a chance to be in the game.”

Regardless of where King’s ends up in the Cascade Conference, the Knights are gearing up for district playoffs.

King’s, the Cascade Conference No. 1 seed, will host the Northwest Conference’s No. 4 seed, which Shapiro said will be either Lynden Christian or Friday Harbor, on Nov. 5.

Last year Lynden Christian defeated King’s at districts, preventing the Knights from reaching state, a fact Shapiro thinks won’t escape his team.

“I think from the kids standpoint there would be (extra motivation),” Shapiro said of the prospect of facing Lynden Christian again. “From a coaching standpoint, you play whoever you get and do your best.”