Once again, Royal finds way in second half to rally past Cashmere

ROYAL CITY, Wash. — When reminded his storied Royal High School football program had just won a 50th consecutive game for a second time in program history, all longtime coach Wiley Allred could do was shrug his shoulders.

It is another chapter in the legacy of arguably Washington’s all-time greatest program.

“What is fun is when you are doing it against a quality team like this,” Allred said.

The six-time defending Class 1A champions were in catch-up mode into the second half. But a gutsy fourth-down call by Allred — and two Jackson Flood touchdown runs — sparked the top-ranked Knights to a 28-17 victory Friday night over No. 3 Cashmere at David Nielsen Field.

Flood finished with a game-high 119 rushing yards as Royal overcame an uncharacteristically slow start, scoring on its opening series — then being shut down the rest of the first half by a swarming Cashmere defense.

But much like last season’s 21-15 overtime thriller over this same team in Royal City, the Knights rallied in the second half.

Royal won 53 games in a row, the second-longest winning streak in state history behind Bellevue’s 67, from 2015-18.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

A NEW STAR IS BORN

Everyone in Class 1A football knows about running back Dax Jenks. He was arguably the biggest reason why the Knights held off Cashmere in last year’s WIAA 1A championship game at Husky Stadium.

But Jenks has a running partner in 2026. His name is Jackson Flood, a junior.

“He is a dude,” Allred said.

Flood has an extra gear and shiftiness to him that makes him hard to corral. He finished off Cashmere in the fourth quarter with touchdown runs of 17 and 31 yards — the last one breaking free from a crowd along the right sideline.

If you’ve heard the name before, it is probably from Zillah athletics. His family made valuable contributions there.

But this Flood decided to come to Royal — and the move is paying off.

“Nobody knew who I was,” Flood said, “until today.”

WILY WILEY SAVES THE DAY

You don’t win 90-percent-plus of your games by accident. Wiley Allred proved that yet again Friday night.

It was midway through the third quarter. Cashmere held a 10-7 lead. The Knights had nothing going offensively.

Royal faced a fourth-and-8 call near midfield. Allred decided to go for it.

“That is kind of how it rolls with Coach Allred,” Allred said. “A calculated risk.”

In one of the few times quarterback Grant Wardenaar didn’t have plenty of Cashmere defenders coming at him, he completed a 10-yard pass to Manny Ruvalcaba along the Knights’ sideline for a first down.

“I believe in every play he calls,” Wardenaar said. “He’s the best coach in the state.

“It was a big turning point in the game.”

Jenks capped off the drive with a 3-yard scoring run, giving Royal a 14-10 lead with 6:14 remaining in the quarter. The defending champions never trailed again.

“Our kids did a much better job in the second half,” Allred said.

CLOSE CASHMERE NOT SATISFIED

After watching his Bulldogs take the upper hand in the first half behind hard running from his pair of Jayce McMahon and Jacoby Tait, scoring 10 unanswered points to grab a 10-7 lead — only to lose — coach Bryan Bremer smirked and wondered.

“We are really good at getting them on their heels and not finishing it,” Bremer said.

Cashmere went down 7-0 early, tied it on Braylon Rubio’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down early in the second quarter — and took the lead on Edgar Reyna’s 37-yard field goal later in the half.

But after giving up the lead, Cashmere went for it on a pair of fourth downs in the second half — getting stopped on a Mac Carlson incompletion and later a sack.

After the game, Allred noted that the Bulldogs were every bit as good as the team Royal beat twice a season ago.

“I am proud of the effort,” Bremer said. “Someday, I hope I am proud of the effort and the win (against Royal).”

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