JEFFERSON TWP — The Knoch defense was backed up against its own goal line.

The game on the line.

The Knights needed a stop.

Scratch that. The Knights needed two stops.

They got them.

Knoch's aggressive, penetrating defense stopped Blackhawk on two fourth-down plays deep in its own territory twice late in the fourth quarter to preserve a 21-20 Northwest Eight Conference win over the Cougars Friday night.

“It was huge, man,” said an elated Knoch coach Brandon Mowry. “It was kind of the same thing as last week. Bend but don't break. This week we bent a little more.”

Chris Young made sure the Knoch defense didn't break.

On fourth-and-1 from the Knoch 8 with just two minutes remaining, Cougar quarterback Logan Cailor seemed to stumble coming out from under center as Knoch blitzed the gaps at the snap — something the Knights had done all game.

Cailor gathered himself and sprinted to his right, but Young tracked him down and stopped him short of the first down with a textbook tackle.

Blackhawk coach Zack Hayward said he had contemplated sending kicker Andrew Bollinger out to attempt what would have been a 25-yard field goal.

He chose to keep the offense on the field instead.

“I'm from the school that if you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win the game,” Hayward said. “We could have tried the field goal, but we're aggressive. We're aggressive playcallers and who's to say Knoch wouldn't have just gone down the field and kicked a field goal themselves? They have a good kicker. They have a good offense.”

Just a few minutes earlier, Hayward did send his kicker out to try a 35-yard field goal, but a delay of game penalty forced the coach to send the offense back onto the field.

Knoch forced an errant pass from Cailor to hold off that drive.

“Our kids are resilient,” Mowry said. “Now that's going to give us some confidence. We can play with anybody now.”

Early it looked as though Knoch (2-0, 1-0) wasn't going to need two defensive stands late to notch a win.

After the Knights' defense forced a three-and-out and a poor punt, Matt Goodlin got two carries for 43 yards — and a 7-yard score — to put Knoch up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

After another Blackhawk drive went nowhere, Knoch quarterback Kam Grassi found Jared Schrecengost streaking wide open down the middle of the field for a 52-yard touchdown.

Just eight minutes into the game, Knoch held a 14-0 lead.

For Blackhawk (0-2, 0-1), it was a familiar scene.

“Last week we were down 20-0. This week we're down 14-0,” Hayward said. “We have to get off to better starts. After that, we got rolling.”

Marques Watson-Trent certainly got rolling.

The elusive back rushed for 249 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns.

He got the Cougars on the board with a 1-yard run in the second quarter that capped a long drive and also scored on runs of 52 and 6.

After his final touchdown run late in the third quarter, Bollinger missed the extra point to keep the deficit at 21-20.

Blackhawk will lament another near miss.

Late in the first half, Watson-Trent broke free on a long run, but Knoch safety Joey Wojciechowski caught up to him and fought off a stiff arm to punch the ball away from the back at the Knights' 1.

The ball rolled toward the back of the end zone when Blackhawk's Matt Randza hopped on it and slid over the back line.

After a long conference, the officials determined Randza didn't establish possession in the end zone and ruled the play a touchback.

Two plays later, Goodlin found a crease and rambled 60 yards for a touchdown to give Knoch a 21-7 lead at the half.

“That was huge, huge, huge,” Mowry said. “It was a big swing in the game.”

Knoch had just one first down in the second half until its final drive when Goodlin picked up two on long runs to put the game away.

After starting 1-4 and 0-3 the last two seasons, the 2-0 start is more than welcome for Knoch and first-year coach Mowry.

“Our kids are going to fight to the end,” Mowry said. “Our guys are always going to be scrappy. That's what I love about this team.

“Getting two wins in a row at home and getting this conference win, it just builds confidence. We talk about how we just want to be 1-0 at the end of the night every Friday.”

Notes: Knoch was called for six offside penalties, four resulting in a first down for Blackhawk. ... Tyler Buterbaugh had 2.5 sacks for the Knights. .... Before the game, Chase Rowe, Jean Heard, Kevin Doyle, Mike King, Todd Tudor and Bethany Baker Krueger were inducted into the Knoch Sports Hall of Fame. ... Knoch fans wore orange in honor of freshman cheerleader Veanna Pollard, who is battling leukemia.

Blackhawk 0 7 13 0 — 20

Knoch 14 7 0 0 — 21

First Quarter

K — Matt Goodlin 7 run (Justin Tristani kick), 10:41

K — Jared Schrecengost 52 pass from Kam Grassi (Tristani kick), 3:17

Second Quarter

B — Marques Watson-Trent 1 run (Andrew Bollinger kick), 10:26

K — Goodlin 60 run (Tristani kick), 1:38

Third Quarter

B — Watson-Trent 52 run (Bollinger kick), 8:27

B — Watson-Trent 6 run (Kick failed), 2:04

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Blackhawk, Marques Watson-Trent 29-249, Vince Gratteri 7-52, Josh Butcher 8-11, Logan Cailor 3-4, Carson Davidson 3-(-28); Knoch, Matt Goodlin 18-182, Kam Grassi 7-11, Keith Washington 1-3, Joey Wojciechowski 1-3, James Johnston 5-3.

Passing:Blackhawk, Carson Davidson 3-6-40-0, Logan Cailor 2-6-28-1; Knoch, Kam Grassi 1-5-52-0.

Receiving:Blackhawk, James Darno 2-35, Matt Randza 2-29, Logan Cailor 1-4; Knoch, Jared Schrecengost 1-52