MURRYSVILLE — Timing is everything, but not for everyone.

Against Franklin Regional Friday night, Knoch suffered from ill-timed penalties and had a potential touchdown pass fall 2 yards short on the final play of the first half.

Plus, the Panthers' Steve Liberatore threw several well-timed passes, including three touchdowns, en route to a 27-3 victory over the Knights in a Greater Allegheny Conference football opener.

"You have to be talented enough with young kids to make mistakes ... but we're past that now," said Knoch coach Mike King. "We're five games in and we need to set a tone.

"We can't have penalties in critical situations and we can't turn the ball over," he added.

The Panthers (4-1, 1-0) jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter when Liberatore hit Kevin Ly in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard scoring strike. Joe Figurelli caught the two-point conversion pass from Liberatore.

Knoch found itself in a golden situation when Mac Megahan recovered a Panthers fumble at the FR 31 early in the second quarter.

On the first play, a holding call negated a 22-yard pass from Knoch quarterback Kyler Kenyon to John Zellhart. Instead of first-and-goal, the Knights were pushed back to the FR 49.

Kenyon connected with Jake McTighe on a 27-yarder on a third-and-28 and Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin ran for nine yards on the fourth-and-1 to sustain the drive.

With a third-and-7 at the FR 10, a motion penalty pushed Knoch back 5 yards. Following an incompletion, Kevin Wood drilled a 32-yard field goal.

The Panthers countered with a four-play, 66-yard drive, capped by a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ben Stephens.

Knoch's John DeWalt took the kickoff 43 yards to the FR 47, but the Panthers' Ryan Mihoci intercepted Kenyon on the first play from scrimmage.

Liberatore found Josh Staniscia for a 42-yard pickup on the next play, and, five plays later, he found Jack Shogan for a 4-yard scoring pass with 2:11 before halftime to open a 21-3 lead.

"Steve has really matured," said Franklin Regional coach Greg Botta. "He told me early 'Coach, I don't feel right. I'm not warmed up.' By the second quarter, he was throwing well."

Knoch made a late push in the first half. Facing third-and-10 at his own 39 with two seconds left, Kenyon threw a sideline pass to Adam Seger. The 5-11 junior pulled it in, broke a tackle and ran free down the sideline, but the Panthers' Chad Bowman caught up to him and dragged him down at the FR 2 with no time remaining.

The Knights went into the locker room down by 18 points instead of gaining some momentum for the second half.

Knoch came out and stopped the Panthers on the opening drive, then took over on downs after a bad snap on a fumble gave the Knights the ball at the FR 28.

Knoch got as far as a second-and-goal at the 8 before Kenyon threw an interception.

Franklin Regional then went on an 11-play, 97-yard drive, culminating on a 9-yard run by Bowman with 2:18 left in the third quarter to close out the scoring.

A personal foul following a 13-yard pickup on a third-and-3 at the FR 11 did not help the Knights' cause.

The Knights have shown some improvement, but it's time to begin applying what they've learned.

"The big thing right now is talk is cheap. These guys have heard it from me all year," King said. "If they can put it together and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, then we've still got a shot at (the playoffs)."