JEFFERSON TWP — The Knoch football team let their first-half lead slip through their fingers as they lost to Montour 34-21 Friday night in WPIAL Class 4A matchup.

The Knights (1-4, 0-3) started the game with two unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter, both on small-yardage runs by quarterback Mac Christy.

Montour (3-2, 3-2) scored the first touchdown of the second quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Kavon Morman, but, less than a minute later, Knoch running back Jayden Renfrew broke away on a 68-yard touchdown run with 6:05 left in the half.

Despite another Spartan touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half, a 15-yard pass from Morman to wide receiver Ronald Deshantz, the Knights held a 21-14 lead heading into the break.

During the break, the rain fell heavily, adding to already soggy conditions.

The Knights returned from halftime with a stunted offense and consistently turned the ball over. Knoch fumbled the ball five times during the game and gave up possession of three. They also had one punt blocked.

Knoch coach Mike King said the weather could be blamed for some of the turnovers, but not all of them.

“The ball is going to bounce different ways,” he said. “Sometimes you get it; sometimes, you don't.”

King said he also saw turnovers that were unforced, including multiple bad snaps.

“We had some bad snaps, and we have to take care of the football that way,” King said. “We can't have those kind of mistakes.”

The Knights also gave the Spartans two free first downs on third-down situations. King said he can't blame the defense too much for those mistakes, but he wishes they weren't in key moments.

“We're aggressive defensively, and we're going to get a few offside penalties, 5-yarders,” He said. “(However,) you don't want them in key situations like that.”

Montour opened multiple drives on their opponents side of the field and capitalized with two touchdowns in the third to give them a six-point lead. A missed extra point prevented a full touchdown for their lead.

Neither team saw success moving the ball in the fourth quarter until Montour started to creep down the field with under 4 minutes remaining.

On a fourth-and-goal situation from the 18 yard line, after penalties put them in a rough spot, the Morman linked with Deshantz, this time for an 18-yard touchdown pass, 8 seconds remaining.

“It was a big win for us,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “We went down two touchdowns to a well-coached team like Knoch, and the kids played hard to come back.”

Cerro said the wet field made for an interesting game, and he was pleased his players handled the situation well.

“This is our first time playing on grass in four or five years, but, you know, both teams were playing in it,” he said. “It was a fast, touch and hard-nosed football game.”

King said the weather may have been the cause of some misfortune, but he was not willing to blame the weather entirely for the loss.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Knoch coach Mike King said. “We played well offensively in the first half, not so well defensively; second half, defensively we came alive while offensively we took a step back.”

He said he liked what he saw from the offensive line, but the turnovers and their consistency will be something they need to work on in the future, but no one will be singled out.

“You win as a team, you lose as a team, and we're not going to point fingers at anybody,” he said. “We gotta' get better in all aspects of the game.”