Feisty Knights fall to Montour
JEFFERSON TWP— The Knoch Knights turned in a gutsy performance in their football season opener against Montour on Friday night at Knoch Stadium.
Despite being significantly outgained, the Knights utilized a couple of third-quarter scores to tie the game and to keep things close until the final gun.
Things looked bleak for the Knights heading into the second half. They trailed 14-0, having shown virtually no offense and unable to slow the relentless Montour running attack.
Alex Whisler changed things quickly. He returned the second-half kickoff 75 yards to the Montour 25. Refusing to leave the game for a breather, he blasted up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown on the next play.
When quarterback Zach Gross hit Kyle Reiser with a 30-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, the game was tied at 14.
Knights coach Mike King made adjustments at halftime to control the running of Christian Wilson. The Knights, however, were unable to control the explosiveness and versatility of quarterback Edgar Banks Jr.
Between the hard-nosed running of Wilson and long passes to Milton Banks, the elusive Edgar Banks Jr. ripped long runs at will. The final bullet came early in the fourth quarter, when Edgar Banks ran 31 yards for the eventual winning score.
Knoch had its chances to tie the score late in the game, driving into Montour territory with under three minutes left. Facing fourth and 10 at the Montour 37, Gross ran right and handed the ball to Reiser. Reiser rolled left and launched a pass toward Michael Gallagher. There was contact and the ball fell incomplete.
After getting a delay-of-game penalty on the play, Knoch faced fourth and 15, the Knights had one chance left, but Gross' pass to Reiser was high and incomplete. After that, Montour ran the clock out.
