A step closer
PLUM — Knoch has enjoyed the fruits of its labor all season, so with the WPIAL football playoffs in full swing, why stop now?
The Knights, after an emotional win over West Allegheny last week, used three Ky Kenyon touchdown passes to defeat perennial power Thomas Jefferson 31-9 in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals at Plum High School's Mustang Stadium.
With the win, the Knights (11-0) advance to the semifinals, where they will face Franklin Regional, which dispatched Hopewell 24-21, at a site and time to be determined.
The loss prevented Thomas Jefferson from reaching the semifinals. The team had done so every season since 1997.
“I said it this week,” Knoch coach Mike King said. “Our kids don't fear anyone. They battle week in and week out.
“We've been knocking on the door for years. We battled Central Valley in the playoffs last year (a 16-0 loss in the quarterfinals) and we've carried it over since.”
The Jaguars (7-4) had more first downs (21-9), more total yardage (310-274) and quarterback Dom Presto threw for 274 yards, but the Knights defense held firm when it needed to the most.
“That's what we sell to our kids,” King said about a “bend-but-don't-break” philosophy. “There's no magic in the scheme. Our kids are like ‘Their kids are inside our 20-yard line. We have to buckle down.'
“When it gets down to crunch time, our kids stepped up and made plays,” King added.
The Jaguars were stopped on five possessions where they had the ball inside the Knoch 30 — four times on downs, another on a 74-yard interception return by Sam Montgomery with 11:41 remaining to seal the victory.
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities,” Jaguars coach Bill Cherpak said. “The one thing we couldn't do was give up easy touchdowns and we did.”
Knoch took the opening drive and used a 54-yard run by quarterback Ky Kenyon to set up a 33-yard field goal by Kory Wood.
The Jaguars marched down the field on the ensuing possession, but a holding penalty as well as an illegal block in the back slowed the 10-play drive, which ended on a Mike Cunningham sack.
Knoch quickly made it a 10-0 lead when Kenyon, on the third play of the drive, connected on a 52-yard pass play to Mac Megahan with 4:01 left in the first quarter.
TJ tried to answer on its next possession, but an 11-play drive stalled at the Knoch 26.
Knoch built a 17-0 advantage when Kenyon found Dakota Bruggeman on a 39-yard hookup, also down the middle of the field, with 4:57 left before the half. A 25-yard diving catch by Ben Tackett helped sustain the drive.
Again, the Jaguars drove the ball down the field, and had a first-and-10 at the Knoch 19, but two carries netted 0 yards followed by two incompletions.
Knoch was looking to run out the clock, but Kenyon threw an interception to Colton Booher, who returned the ball to the Knoch 16.
Four plays later, Presto found Zach Schademan on a 4-yard score to make it 17-7 with 57 seconds left.
The Jaguars came out in the second half with possession, but the Knights defense stood tall.Forced to punt on a fourth-and-10 at the TJ 18, the Jaguars fumbled the snap and recovered, but the Knights took over at the 7-yard line.“It was always something,” Cherpak noted. “A penalty, a mental error.”“Our defense always comes to play every game,” said senior running back Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin, who finished with 91 yards on 22 carries. “They don't take a play off in practice.”Three plays later, Megahan caught a 5-yard TD pass to give the Knights a 24-7 lead with 9:59 left in the third quarter.Throw in Montgomery's return on the second play of the fourth quarter and the Knights were well on their way.“They put pressure on Dom all night,” Cherpak said. “(Knoch) was opportunistic, but we needed a play.”“We attacked. We wanted to go out and smack them, to out-physical this team,” said Rumburg-Goodlin. “We played our best football in the fourth quarter.”“Our defense is scrappy,” King said. “We may not be the biggest defense, but we fly around and get after it. We tell the kids that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.“They're playing with big hearts, using the most of what they have.”<B>Notes:</B> Cunningham finished with three sacks and Luke Kroneberg added an interception for the Knights. ... Schademan caught 13 passes for 173 yards to lead all receivers.<B>Knoch 31 Thomas Jefferson 9</B><B>Thomas Jefferson 0 7 0 2 — 31Knoch 10 7 7 7 — 9TJ K</B>21 First Downs 929-36 Rushes-Yards 41-152274 Passing Yards 12122-42-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 4-9-1310 Total Yards 2731-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-04-43 Penalties-Yards 3-37<B>First Quarter</B>K — Mac Megahan 52 pass from Ky Kenyon (Wood kick), 4:01K — Kory Wood 33 field goal, 9:57<B>Second Quarter</B>K — Dakota Bruggeman 39 pass from Kenyon (Wood kick), 4:57TJ — Zach Schademan 4 pass from Dom Presto (Derrick Rothey kick),: 57<B>Third Quarter</B>K — Megahan 5 pass from Kenyon (Wood kick), 9:59<B>Fourth Quarter</B>K — Sam Montgomery 74 interception return (Wood kick), 11:41TJ — Safety, Devon Inks sacked Kenyon in end zone, 7:16<B>Individual StatisticsPassing:</B> Thomas Jefferson, Dom Presto 22-42-274-2. Knoch, Ky Kenyon 4-9-121-1.<B>Rushing:</B> Thomas Jefferson, Ryan Ruffing 17-52, Tyler Toboz 2-4, Dom Presto 9-(-9), Team 1-(-11). Knoch, Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin 22-91, Ky Kenyon 12-64, Andrew Tuzikow 4-9, Team 1-(-1), Dakota Bruggeman 1-(-3), Ben Tackett 1-(-8).<B>Receiving:</B> Thomas Jefferson, Zach Schademan 13-173, Jacob Mascaro 3-46, Colton Booher 3-22, Ryan Ruffing 2-11, Bruno Natter 1-22. Knoch, Mac Megahan 2-57, Dakota Bruggeman 1-39, Ben Tackett 1-25.
