The high school football season started off well for the East Noble Knights on Friday night. The varsity football Knights won their first game of the season against the Northup Bruins by a tremendous landslide. Here’s how it went down.
With the American Anthem at 6:45 and kick off at 7:00, the football season began. The Knights, winning the coin flip, started with the ball with Jared Teders kicking. The Knights started out with two fumbles, both recovered, before making a touchdown by Brandon Mable within the first minute and thirty, with the kick good as well, making the score quickly 0-7, Knights lead. Bruins gain the ball and for several minutes tries to make it to the Knights goal, though they make little progress. The Knights regain the ball and slowly make their way to the Bruins goal. The Knights lose the ball though a failed catch and it is now Bruins ball. Bruins complete a ball and move to the 50 yard line. Bruins advance down the field, soon scoring their own touch down with a good kick, evening the score. The Knights get the ball and began to make progress, but before they can even get close to a touchdown, the clock runs out, signaling the end of the first quarter, with the score tied at seven to seven.
The second quarter starts with Knights having the ball, though they quickly lose it though a misstep. The Bruins gain the ball. The Knights quickly gain two points do to a safety. The Knights regain the ball, with one of the players making a spectacular run to the touchdown, with the entire visiting crowd on their feet cheering, only for the announcer to state that there was a flag on the play and the run was nullified do to holding. Knight still have ball and continue down the field. Knight soon call for a timeout. When the timeout ends, the Knights continue down the field steadily. Only minutes later the Knights call a second timeout. At the end of the second timeout, the Knight again continue down the field, until the Bruins gain the ball from them. The Bruins advance down the field. A Bruins player makes a throw to a teammate down the field, though the catcher misses the ball and gets hit in the upper chest so hard the crowd could hear the impact, knocking him to the ground hard near the north 35 yard line. The Bruins player, number 18 Tim English, doesn’t immediately get up. All players are told to get down on a knee while the coaches check on the player. Several minutes later, the player is up and helped off the field and sits out. The game begins again with Bruins ball. The Bruins start with a good pass to the 49 yard line, and begin advancing down the field. The Knights regain the ball and advance towards the goal, only to lose it though a failed pass. The Bruins make small progress. Bruins issue timeout with 20 seconds to go. When they return, they complete a pass. The Knights fail to gain the ball before the end of the third quarter. The score is now Bruins 7 with Knights 9.
During halftime, the Bruins honor their girls track team, who to won several competitions, including sectionals and regionals and took 10th at state. The Bruins band also preforms, which smaller than East Noble’s, and not quite as good and doesn’t use the field quite as well. The field it’s self is not as good as East Noble’s, while the stands, made of stone, are nicer.
The third quart begins with Knights ball. The Knights fail a play and lose the ball to the Bruins. The Knights quickly recover the ball and make progress down the field. Knights score a touchdown with a good kick upping their score by seven points. The Bruins gain the ball and slowly head down the field. The Knights gain the ball. A Bruins player is knocked to the ground, but recovers much faster than the first Bruins player. Bruins gain the ball, though they fail the play do to one of their players tripping over a Knight. The Bruins keep the ball, only to quickly lose it to the Knights. The Knights manage to make great distance down the field. The third quart ends.
The fourth and final quart begins with Knights ball. The Knights make a touchdown and a good kick within the first six seconds. The Knights make good progress down the field, though when the ball goes out of bounds, the ball goes to the Bruins. The Bruins complete a pass and start advancing. A Knights player tackles the Bruin with the ball for the Knights to regain the ball. The Bruins issue a timeout. When the game begins again, the Knights have the ball and quickly score a touch, though the kick is not good, so the Knights only gain six points. Bruins regain the ball and start heading down the field. Knights regain the ball and quickly begin heading for the goal, only to be prevented by a tackle. The Knights score another touchdown with a good kick for another seven points. Knights still have ball, but quickly lose it to Bruins. Bruins make some progress but very little. Knight regain the ball and spend several minutes making progress only to lose the ball. The Knights issue a timeout. When back, the Bruins slowly continue down the field. The Bruins make a touchdown and a good kick with only two minutes left in the game. The Knights gain the ball, only to fumble on a play and lose the ball to the Bruins, though they quickly regain it. Knights make an excellent run, though is tackled down. The game ends with a final score of 14 Bruins, 43 Knights. The Knights have won their first game. Before leaving, both teams line up to give high-fives with their opponents.
The Knights did their first game very well and won by a landslide, and definitely proved themselves to be a blitzing team. This was a great opener for the Knights Football Varsity team, and if this game is anything to go by, it is going to a great football season this year, and hopefully for all three ENHS teams. To a great start, and another great season for the East Noble Knights!