by Mari Radtke
The Royals traveled to Britt, Iowa on Friday November 1 in a bid to get into the Iowa High School Football playoffs. The Royals entered the contest as the underdog, facing a 10-0 team.
Neither team made it to the scoreboard during the first quarter. The second quarter was a scoring bonanza with the Royals putting up 14 points against the Eagles’ 6 points, failing to convert after TD points. The Eagles gained another touchdown in the third, again without converting and while holding the Royals scoreless for the period. The gladiators went into the final period of play with the Royals up 14-12. The Royals did cross into the endzone again during the 4th. They kicked extra points perfectly 3 for 3 during the game. The Eagles, during the 4th, crossed into the endzone twice and converted both 2-point conversion efforts, taking the score 28-21, breaking the hearts of Royals everywhere, and advancing into the state football semi finals.
Sophomore quarterback Eli Harpenau threw 21 attempts completing 14. He gained 214 yards with 2 TDs. He rushed for 47 yards.
Junior Brayson Mulder moved the ball 50 yards through the air and rushed for 90 more out of 186 rushing yards and a TD. Senior Michael Peterson gained 70 yards from 2 receptions and scored a TD.
Junior Gage Johnson is credited with 1 tackle for loss out of 6and 9 tackles and 1 assist during the game.
The Eagles brought their ground game. They completed 100% of their 1 pass during the game for 5 yards. They put 343 rushing yards into the stat book with 50 carries.