ROBINSON TWP — Frank Whalen had the Knoch football team ready for everything Friday night. Montour was a desperate team.

The Spartans hadn't scored a point since August and were in the basement of the Northwest Eight Conference, which made them willing to try anything to get back in the WPIAL Class 4A playoff chase.

Montour's surprise onside kick attempt after halftime failed. It was another trick play that landed a killer strike in its 35-33 win over Knoch.

Spartans sophomore running back Gannon Kadlecik, who rushed for 145 yards and a score, took a hand-off and pulled up to throw.

Anthony Tambellini got behind the Knoch defense and hauled in the pass on a 45-yard scoring play to put Montour ahead 28-15 with 1 minute, 40 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We practiced that all week,” Montour coach Lou Cerrone said. “He's a lefty and you usually don't see that. It was a good pass by him. It got there, that's all that mattered.”

The Knights weren't shocked at the Spartans' sudden offensive outburst. Whalen felt they were better than results had shown. Montour (1-5, 1-2) had been outscored 122-0 in its three games before playing Knoch and had recorded 17 points this season.

“That has nothing to do with preparation on our part,” Whalen said. “Watching Montour on film, we knew at some point they were going to get it together offensively. It just happened to be tonight they found themselves.”

The Spartans won despite being outgained 434-282 and snapped a two-game winning streak for the Knights (2-4, 2-3).

“We knew if we lost this game tonight, it would be hard for us to make the playoffs,” Cerrone said. “We still have a lot of work to do. I'm proud of the job the kids did, we had a lot of sophomores out there.”

Montour struck first, capping its first possession with a 1-yard touchdown run by Luke Persinger. Two touchdown runs by Knoch quarterback Chase Mullen, the second of which was a 2-yard run with 9:34 left before halftime, gave the Knights their only lead, 14-7.

The Spartans took the lead for good, 15-14, after Dante Presutti scored on a 1-yard run. Montour had a lot of success in the running game, averaging 4.8 yards per carry on 31 attempts.

“They were doing basic stuff we worked on all week,” Whalen said. “They were running their two-back counter and iso. They did a good job of running the play-action pass off it. You knew it was going to happen sometime this year, they were going to figure it out offensively. You knew it was going to happen.”

A big defensive play gave Montour some space heading into halftime. Dom Magliocco returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown to put the Spartans ahead 21-14.

Knoch stayed close in the second half with some big runs from Matt Goodlin, who finished with 216 yards on 22 carries. Goodlin cut the lead to 28-26 after appearing to be tied up by Montour defenders late in the third quarter. With his legs churning, Goodlin shrugged off the Spartans' defenders and broke away for a 83-yard scoring run as the third quarter expired.

Both teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but Knoch couldn't close the gap.

Cerrone's gadget plays helped Montour sneak out a major conference win.

Knoch 7 7 12 7 — 33

Montour 7 14 7 7 — 35

First Quarter

M — Luke Persinger 1 run (Robert Rippole kick), 10:07

K — Chase Mullen 1 run (Josh Goldscheitter klick), 9:34

Second Quarter

K — Mullen 2 run (Goldscheitter kick), 9:34

M — Dante Presutti 1 run (Andrew Rathway pass from Anthony Tambellini), 6:13

M — Dom Magliocco 39 interception retuirn (pass failed), :27

Third Quarter

K — Matt Goodlin 14 run (kick failed), 2:19

M — Tambellini 45 pass from Gannon Kadlecik (Rippole kick), 1:40

K — Goodlin 83 run (pass failed), :00

Fourth Quarter

M — Kadlecik 3 run (Rippole kick), 6:47

K — Mullen 2 run (Goldscheitter kick), 2:28

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Knoch, Matt Goodlin 232-216, Chase Mullen 16-46, Noah Cetnar 3-7. Montour, Gannon Kadlecik 26-145, Dante Presutti 3-8,. Luke Persinger 2-(-4).

Passing: Knoch, Chase Mullen 8-13-175-1. Montour, Luke Persinger 12-18-101-0, Gannon Kadlecik 1-1-45-0.

Receiving: Knoch, Noah Cetnar 2-87, Jared Schrecengost 3-65, Jim Johnston 2-16, Scott Fraser 1-11. Montour, Anthony Tambellini 2-53, Dom Magliocco 4-39, Logan Persinger 2-28, Gannon Kadlecik 2-10, Anthony Gracy 1-7, Dante Presutti 1-6, Ean Jones 1-3.