HAMPTON TWP — The Knoch football team desperately needed a win.

Thanks to Tim McNerney and his powerful legs, the Knights got one.

McNerney was the workhorse for Knoch, rushing for 165 yards on 32 bruising carries, as Knoch escaped with a 21-16 Greater Allegheny Conference football win over Hampton Friday night.

It wasn't easy, though.

Jacob McTighe got the scoring started for Knoch with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Shaw with 2:26 to go in the first quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Hampton (1-5, 1-1) put three on the board when kicker Zach Carter booted a 27-yard field goal to make it a four-point game with 10:48 to go in the first half.

After stopping the Knights on fourth down at midfield on the very next series, Hampton quarterback Jeff Cully ran 53 yards around the right side for a touchdown that put Hampton on top 10-7 midway through the second quarter.

Knoch answered that drive with a scoring drive of its own, running six consecutive times and punching it in for the score when McTighe ran 23 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:52 remaining in the half.

The Knights (2-4, 1-1) went up 21-10 early in the fourth quarter when McNerney scored from the 1 on the first play of the quarter.

But Hampton didn't go away quietly, driving 96 yards in 18 plays, with Andrew Bly bruising his way in from the 1 with 1:51 to go in the game.

The Talbots went for the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game, but Cully was stopped short of the goal line.

The Hampton onside kick bounced out of bounds to kill any hope for a comeback victory.

Cully rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown, and also completed 10-of-28 passes for 139 yards.