1A football: King’s catches La Center off-guard in 42-21 win

RIDGEFIELD — La Center coach John Lambert thought he’d drop a surprise on King’s of Seattle. But it turned out that his Wildcats were the ones who were left stunned.

Two early gambles by La Center did not pay off and sparked King’s of Seattle to a 42-21 win in a Class 4A state first-round football playoff on Saturday.

“They were really physical and caught us off-guard a little bit,” Lambert said. “Today, we were just kind of a step behind, and I don’t know why.”

The first risk Lambert took was to call a surprise onside on the opening kickoff. But the ball rolled harmlessly to a Knights up man, who easily covered it.

Four plays later, King’s led 7-0 on Koa Wilkins’ 9-yard touchdown run.

On La Center’s next possession, the Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 27 and didn’t convert.

Five plays later, King’s was up 14-0 on Andrew Cline’s 1-yard TD run.

La Center would eventually fall behind 21-0 before getting on the board on an 11-yard reception by Max Hiller from Wyatt Aguirre.

After a defensive stop, the Wildcats were driving to cut it to a one-possession game before halftime when disaster struck.

At the King’s 24, Hiller was hit before he could receive a handoff and the ball popped into the air. King’s defensive lineman Edmund Sundquist grabbed the ball and rumbled 74 yards for a 28-6 lead for the Knights.

“That’s because of what King’s brought,” Lambert said. “They played really well and created that play.”

The Wildcats gained only six yards on 10 plays in the third quarter as King’s extended its lead to 35-6.

La Center did provide some highlights in the fourth quarter.

Jacob Wise caught a seven-yard pass from Aguirre then flipped the ball to Dalton Morgan, who ran the remaining 56 yards for a touchdown.

Hiller later ran 51 yards on fourth-and-1, shaking off several King’s attempts to knock him out of bounds to score a touchdown.

But in the end, the Knights were too much for La Center.

Wilkins passed for 129 yards and two touchdowns and Cline rushed for 54 yards and two scores.

But Lambert was proud of the way his team battled Saturday, as it battled all season of an injury-filled year. The Wildcats (6-4) won six in a row to capture the Trico League title after starting the season 0-3.

Aguirre completed 8 of 9 passes for 132 yards, and Hiller rushed for 75 yards.

“This is the first group of seniors to win four league championships,” Lambert said. “That’s a huge accomplishment as no La Center team has done that. We’ve won four out of five years, or three out of four, but never four in a row. That’s something our seniors can hang their hats on. It was a good journey.”

KING’S 42, LA CENTER 21

Kings 21 7 7 7–42

LC 0 6 0 14–21

First quarter

K — Koa Wilkins 9 run (Jack VanDyke kick)

K — Andrew Cline 1 run (VanDyke kick)

K — Ryan Fransen 24 pass from Wilkins (VanDyke kick)

Second quarter

LC — Matt Hiller 11 pass from Wyatt Aguirre (kick failed)

K — Edmund Sundquist 74 fumble return (VanDyke kick)

Third quarter

K — Fransen 13 pass from Wilkins (VanDyke kick)

Fourth quarter

LC — Dalton Morgan 56 pass from Aguirre (Aguirre run)

K — Cline 23 run (VanDyke kick)

K — Hiller 51 run (Sergio Sandoval kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — King’s: Cline 8-54, Wilkins 16-46, Caleb Perry 1-3, Cooper Wright 2-11. La Center: Hiller 11-75, Aguirre 18-30, Josiah Gill 1-1, Morgan 3-21, Cole Judd 3-5, Isaac Kulla 2-17, Brett Judd 1-16.

PASSING — King’s: Wilkins 12-17-0-129. La Center: Aguirre 8-9-0-132, Hiller 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — King’s: Fransen 4-47, Corey Kispert 3-19, Jake Welch 2-11, Jackson Hand 2-23, Wright 1-19. La Center: Morgan 2-81, Jacob Wise 2-23, Hiller 2-23, Kellan Sullivan 1-9, C. Judd 1-(-4).