ROYAL – For the Friday night mortals among us, the white-knucklers are the worst.

Those tight games, when your alma mater or your son – perhaps both – are up against it, with anxiety rising with each snap, knowing the outcome is imminent.

It’s not for the weak of heart.

But it’s those moments, occasionally tucked into a string of blowout victories, when top-ranked Royal – winner of 48 consecutive games and six straight Class 1A state championships – shows why it’s the very best.

Twice last year, the most nailbiters the juggernaut has seen in recent seasons, and both times by SCAC rival Cashmere, the Knights were pushed to the brink.

Whether it was Hall of Fame coach Wiley Allred calling a rollout right, and quarterback Grant Wardenaar finding Dax Jenks in stride for the overtime game-winner in the regular season, or the defense holding off the Bulldogs on would-be go-ahead two-point conversion in the state final – these are the moments for which the Knights are made.

“They were fun – if you don’t think about what’s in store with the tiny swings,” said Allred, who’s entering his 28th season leading the Knights, having piled up 313 victories and 13 of the school’s 14 championships.

“The end of the game here was electrifying, I think, for both teams,” Allred said. “Even when we were going through it, I was excited and really proud of the kids and how they handled themselves in terms of staying motivated and competitive and together and selfless.”

Royal again is expected to win the championship, and earned the top spot in VarsityWA’s preseason rankings, ahead of No. 2 Lynden Christian – which the Knights beat 61-35 in the semifinals – and Cashmere, which is third.

This senior class could finish with the distinction of being the first in the 30-year run to finish unbeaten in four seasons, but that’s more a matter of what the program has become rather than a sole group of players.

“They’ve all looked at the guy before them,” Allred said. “There’s been a legacy and they just keep looking at the guy before him.”

For Wardendaar, a lanky left-handed senior who also was the conference’s MVP on the basketball court, that was Lance Allred, the coach’s nephew and twice the classification’s Player of the Year.

Wardenaar waited in the wings, earning all-conference honors at defensive back as a sophomore, and learning from the versatile starter.

"Grant watched how Lance prepared, whether that be game day or previous to game day,” Coach Allred said. “That carries a lot of weight when you see someone humble, wanting to work hard and get better.”

And it wasn’t lost on Wardenaar, who didn’t need prompted after October’s win against Cashmere to recall that the Knights last lost when he was an eighth-grader.

“The tradition and the history here is awesome,” he said. “It’s a lot to live up to but it’s good pressure. You don’t want to be the team that ends it, but you want to have fun.”

Still working his way back from a track injury early last year, fellow senior Jenks wasn’t much of a factor early last season after 16 carries as a sophomore.

Then came the first Bulldogs game.

“We hadn’t seen a lot of him until the Cashmere game, and then he showed what he was able to do,” Coach Allred said.

When the postseason got going, Jenks really took off, racking up four straight 100-yard games, and a monstrous 226-yard, five-TD outing against Lynden Christian in the semifinals.

For Jenks, also a standout on the Knights’ basketball team, the bond with his teammates is as important as the results.

“It’s really special to be with your teammates, and deepen the relationship with each one of them,” he said.

Two-way starting lineman and senior Orlando Santillan also drew all-conference honors, first team on defense and honorable mention on offense.

“He’s quick; he thought he was going to be a running back his freshman year, and he’d be a good one,” Allred said. “He’s blessed with a lot of explosive power.”

Santillan represents how the coaching staff puts the players in the right spots. Once lined up, Allred, who runs the offense, and defensive coordinator Jeremy Scroggins, Royal class of 2001, do the rest.

“These coaches are amazing, there’s no one else like them, really the culture they’ve built is pretty significant,” Jenks said, “from the scheme, and the time they put in to break it down to the simplest terms.”

The Knights open the season Friday night at Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls. It’s the first meeting between the teams since Royal beat the Eagles, 49-7, in the 2023 championship game.

Then it’s back to David Nielsen Memorial Field for the home and conference opener against Cashmere on Sept. 11.

And if it gets hairy again versus the Bulldogs, the Knights will be ready.

“We have to take care of the small things here in practice,” Jenks said, “but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”