Royal will begin the quest for its seventh Class 1A state championship in a row Friday when the Knights head to Nine Mile Falls to face Lakeside.

And, as could’ve been predicted, Royal will begin its pursuit as the top-ranked team in the debut state football rankings by VarsityWA.

The Knights sit atop the 1A, with Lynden Christian, which lost to Royal in the state semifinals, and SCAC rival Cashmere third. The Bulldogs pushed the Knights to overtime in a regular-season matchup at David Nielsen Memorial Field, and were within a two-point conversion of wresting the state crown from Wiley Allred’s squad, which has won 48 straight games.

Zillah is No. 7 in the 1A poll.

Two-time defending CBBN conference champion Moses Lake is No. 6 in the 4A poll. The Mavericks will be in their first year under Kyler Hanberg, who was promoted to head coach after Brett Jay stepped down following an 11-win season and a berth in the state quarterfinals.

Richland comes in at 10th in the poll, and the Bombers will travel to Moses Lake on Friday to open the 2026 season.

Defending Mid-Columbia Conference champion Chiawana is just outside of the top 10.

CWAC favorite Prosser is No. 4 in the 2A rankings. The junior-led squad advanced to the state first round and is poised for a deep playoff run under head coach Corey Ingvalson, who guided his alma mater to the 2015 state championship in his first season.

Selah is just outside of the top 10.

• For the complete rankings, visit VarsityWA.

Editor’s note: This summary comes from the rankings that were originally published by content-sharing partner VarsityWA, founded by journalists Todd Milles and Lauren Smith. Milles and Smith bring nearly 40 years of sportswriting experience — much of it at The News Tribune in Tacoma (while Todd also spent six years at SBLive Washington). Support that venture at VarsityWA.