Kings Football » Freshman

Another beautiful day for football quickly had the Knights out in front 6-0 after a very successful kickoff return by Tommy Bruns to the Clinton Massie 29 yard line.  The Knights quickly gobbled up the remaining 28 yards and capped the drive with a QB keeper where Cole Palmer edged the ball over the goal line for what turned out to be the only Knight score of the day.  The PAT was not good, so the score stayed 6-0.  The only bright spot of the day defensively was the first defensive series, multiple tackles for losses forced a 4 and out from the Clinton Massie offense .  The Kings offence sputtered on its second possession and gave the ball back to the Eagles in good field position. The Eagles armed with what would turn out to be a hugely effective fake handoff, mislead everyone in attendance, announcers, spotters, videographer and including the referees who blew the play dead even though the Massie running back, who actually had the ball was 20 yards down field untouched, so what would have been the Eagles first score, was called back to the 45 yard line and they were awarded a first down, apparently where the ball was when the whistle was blown stopping the defense.  This only slowed the Eagles down for a few plays until they crossed the goal line for 6 and followed with a successful PAT to bring the score to 7-6.

The following kickoff got to the ground before a scrambling DeAndre Barnett could pick it up and run. Resulting in the Knights starting their drive from inside their own 5 yard line. A play later the Knights were backed up to their own 1.  The Eagles captured the Knights in their own backfield after a slow developing handoff was met with multiple defenders in the backfield for a safety.  Eagles 9, Knights 6.

The kick after the safety gave the Massie squad tremendous field position and they converted that to a TD shortly thereafter to push the score to 15-6.

Knights put 3 receivers back on the following kickoff and Ethan Adkins returns the ball to the Kings 29 yard line for good field position.  Multiple miscues by the Knights offense, penalties, bad exchanges and a fumble result in turning the ball over to the Eagles on the Knights 4 yard line.  This quickly rewarded Clinton Massie with another 6 points and another blown PAT.  22-6 Eagles.

The rest of the game seemed to spiral down for the young Knights with missed passes, missed passes for pick 6, blown coverage, it was apparent that injuries and missing personnel were really affecting the Knights ability to hit on all cylinders, the one personnel aspect that was a success was the return of Luke Schriever at the punting position who let a few punts fly in the neighborhood of 40 yards. 

Knights ended up on the bad side of a 61-6 lopsided match against a Clinton Massie squad who similar to the Knights found themselves searching for an opponent late in the freshman season, which has been the normal situation where squads are feeling the numbers pinch of academic and injuries shrinking the size of their squads.  Good luck next week to Clinton Massie and to the freshman Knights who have to travel to FAVC foes, Turpin next Saturday at Turpin to finish up the season.

With West Carrollton folding their freshman offering for the rest of the year, the Freshman Knights where faced with a week off but luckily our FAVC brothers to the west, Ross, had the same issue when their scheduled opponent for the week, Norwood, also finished their freshman year early.  So the Knights travelled to the Rams country home, which on paper was a much stronger opponent then the West Carrolton squad we were supposed to meet.  The freshman squad from Ross is solid, beating many of their opponents by basketball like scores and sit atop of the FAVC Scarlet division with in the neighborhood of a 5-2 record.

A beautiful fall afternoon greeted the kick off, assuming you were sheltered from the 20 mph wind, but the thermometer claimed it was 55 the start and 65 degrees when we got in our cars to leave.  Kings kicked off to the Rams and held them to 3 plays breaking up passes and stopping runs.  The Knights bite on a fake punt and give up the first down, allowing the Rams to drive within a few yards of the goal line but recently returned from the growing Kings infirmary, Tommy Bruns picks up an errant fumble to start a Knight drive from their own 6 yard line.  The Knights line controlled the Rams defense and allowed the invigorated DeAndre Barnett to move the ball for large chunks of yardage. But some ill thought out holds away from the ball causes the Knights to go to the air, but the aforementioned wind blew a Palmer pass into the hands of the Ross defender.  A few plays later the Ross offense rams the ball across the end zone for 6, directly followed by a halfback pass for 2 points puts the Rams up 0-8, just before the end of the first quarter.  The Knights take the following kickoff and control the clock and eat up yardage, but run out of time in the half threatens to end the drive but instead another interception ends the first half.  But not before another Knight had to go to the repair shop, Bradley Berg headed to the hospital at half, diagnosed with a fractured collar bone.

The 2^nd half finds the Knights with the ball again but in an unusually good field position at the 42 yard line.  The offensive line again shining, fresher legs in part due to some liberal substitutions, laying down pancakes and blocks for Barnett who breaks the seal for the Kings squad and puts 6 on the Visitors side of the score board.  Kings 6, Ross 8.  Two point conversions to #14 Eric Young through the air tied the game at 8 apiece.

Both teams traded wind aided kicks back and forth before Kings engineered another long drive behind the offensive line topped off with another Barnett score, but the Knights are unable to secure the extra point when a defender shoots the gap left open by the Knights only having  10 on the field.  Knights ahead 14-8.  Evidently the Rams didn’t like the unusual situation of being on the losing side of the score. After a very unfriendly interpretation of the rules for the Knights on the kick off and re-kick the Rams drive down the field carried on the solid legs of their running game, no amount of fresh legs for the Knights could stop the Rams on this drive.  The Rams convert their two point attempt for the final score of the game up 14-16.

Arguably the best game the Frosh Knights have played against a very tough Ross squad ended up with an L on the Win/Loss column.   Many opportunities to contemplate a bounce this way or that, a call not made or made, could have swung this game to the Knights favor.  On the upside, liberal substitution and having players coming back from injuries definitely showed that these freshman are not going out without a fight.

Frosh Knights leave their brooms in the closet, no sweep this week.  Varsity and JV both are victorious over the Eagles, but the freshman squad drops this one to their FAVC opponents on a gorgeous October Saturday morning. 

This game was not on track from the start, when the Knights where late getting out of the parking lot. But on the field the Eagles swooped in and scored in 2 minutes 38 seconds to go up 7-0.   Kings starts off with good field position at the 45 yard line, but a tipped pass is snatched out of the air by the Eagles defense and quickly turned into a touchdown after a 32 yard run by #26 Stearns.  The PAT was blocked by Jordan Goslee to keep the score at 13-0.

After the ensuing kickoff the Knights are not in as good a position as after the first kickoff but a 35 yard screen pass from Palmer to Barnett puts the offense in Eagle territory again.   A high snap, backs the Knights back and eventually end their offensive drive and turn the ball over to Walnut Hills.  The Eagles quick move the ball down the field but Erik Young denies a touchdown run after reception but not until after 30 yard gain. The Eagles are derailed when an errant throw ends up in Ryan Shackleford’s hands in the end zone giving the Knights the ball on their 20 with 3:19 left in the first half.  Knights run the clock down to 1:25, but don’t move the ball successfully and end up with Colin Moore kicking to Walnut’s deep man who returns the ball to the Kings 43 yard line.  Walnut Hills runs out the clock on the first half up 13-0.

The second half kickoff was almost exactly at noon with Walnut Hills kicking off to Knights.  First series results in the Knights turning the ball over on downs on the Eagles 27 yard line with about seven minutes left in the 3^rd quarter.  The Eagles seem to have the right moves, but for a moment the Knights and the referee’s team up to push the Walnut Hills team back for a few plays, only to have them rally with a long run and a first down.  Eventually the Eagles drive down to the 1 yard line and after a stop up the middle by Spencer Bultman and Kyle Handorf, followed the next play, by another play up the middle, similarly stopped by the defensive line, a quarter back keeper by Murphy is successful.  Murphy also rolls out on the two point conversion and puts the score at 21 naught.  The defense held the Eagles for 6 minutes but finally gave up the score.

3^rd quarter ends with the Knights controlling the ball but shortly thereafter the defense, worn out by the previous long drive and only a short rest for the defensive players not going both ways, was back on the field.  The Knights yielded another Walnut touchdown but the extra point was short leaving the score 27-0.  The Knights not being much for giving up drive down the field after getting the ball back. Kings moving the ball quickly with runs from Ethan Adkins.  The drive including a long pass from Palmer to Jonathan Soloman gets the Knights within sight of the end zone.   A few plays later the Knights end their siege on the end zone after multiple failed attempts from the one yard line, but the exhausted Knights could not punch the ball in for a touchdown.  Leaving the score 27-0 with the Eagles on their own one yard line and only a few ticks left on the clock.  After a successful run out of their own end zone, the Eagles complete the game letting the time run out.

Next week the freshman travel to the north, the opposite way as the Caribbean but evidently there are Pirates up in West Carrollton, hopefully the JV and Frosh Knights will keep the Pirate cannons silent.

Kings Freshman where the third leg of the trifecta against Little Miami for their first Saturday game following the JV game which had the Knights prevail 26-37.  Seems Saturday games are good for this group of Frosh Knights.  Topping a sparsely populated Little Miami team 8-14 for the final meeting of these two backyard rivals as members of the FAVC Cardinal division, as Kings departs for the newly formed Eastern Cincinnati Conference and to complete the varsity, JV and freshman sweep.  The Little Miami team rostered 17 which included a few players sharing time on both the JV and freshman squads as was apparent as at least two of the boys donned the freshman white jerseys after playing with JV squad in their home green.

Kings kicked off to Little Miami to start the game, resulting with Little Miami pinned on their own 9 yard line. Shortly thereafter, Tyler LeClair recovers a fumble giving the Knights great field position on the 6, but cannot capitalize leaving Woeste a difficult angle and compounded with the high winds ends up leaving his field goal attempt wide.  Little Miami takes over on their own 20 yard line since the field goal attempt crossed the plane of the goal.  Little Miami stalls out around the 50 yard line but succeeds with a fake punt to keep their second drive alive.  Bultman and Goslee combine for a tackle for loss and cause the Panthers to turn the ball over to the Knights after a Goslee picks up a fumble recovery. 

Knights start the 2^nd quarter with the ball but being good neighbors, the Knights return the ball back to Little Miami a few plays later.  Kings holds Little Miami on the following series resulting in a wind added 53 yard punt after a long roll and no return.  Deandre Barnett ripped off a long run but it gets called back on a Kings hold.  After moving the sticks, Kings QB hits Mr. Barnett again on a screen for the first score of the game.  Followed by a Woeste PAT, Knights lead 7-0 with 4:29 left in the first half. 

The balance of the first half included another fumble recovery for LeClair, matched with another Knight fumble, pinning the Panthers on their 9 yard line again.  Add to that a Knight receiving a hit which caused his singing voice to be temporarily elevated and a Goslee sack to round out the first half.

3^rd quarter was uneventful except for a fumble recovery by Cole Palmer and another long run by Barnett being called back for hold.

4^th quarter finds the Little Miami squad stymied by the Knights defense and after a few series back and forth, Kings finally breaks stalemate of the 2^nd half with a Deandre Barnett dive right and a few broken tackles and as Mr. Berg said, no De- Laundry (no flags) the Knights were up 13-0.  Woeste splits the uprights moments later to finish the Kings scoring for the day up 14-0.

Knights kicking into the wind didn’t get a terribly good kickoff and the Panthers break a few tackles to land themselves in one of their best field positions of the day at the Kings 35 yard line.  This sets up a touchdown by Panthers #22 Chris Dawson who also wore #45 during the game, but due to blood on his uniform had to switch numbers.  Panthers convert their 2 point conversion taking a play out of the 1980’s Chicago Bears Refrigerator Perry and call Clinton Eshleman’s number, normally their center, to carry the ball in for 2.  Panthers have new life with 1:02 left in the game and a score of 8-14.

Panthers line up in an obvious on sides situation and get a little more foot in the ball then desired where the ball lands in front of the Knights second line where Spencer Bultman dives on it to secure the ball for the Knights offense.  After a Panther penalty and a Barnet run for 4 yards, Knights needed 1 yard to secure the victory.  The next play on a QB sneak, the Knights line made plenty of room for Palmer to get the needed 1 yard and about 3 additional.  This set up the Knights to take the victory formation to run out the clock with the score board still reading 14-8.

Next week has the Frosh Knights traveling down I-71 to the home of the Walnut Hills Eagles on Saturday October 8^th.

The Kings Knights played the Glen Este Trojans on an overcast Wednesday evening. The Knights were short many key players due to injuries, including Tommy Bruns, Luke Schriever, Jacob Stevens and Jackson Barker. Barker will be out for the season due to a shoulder injury sustained in the Loveland defeat last week. Unfortunately, it was evident in the opening series that our defense was going to have a challenging game with the previously mentioned players missing. The Trojans scored in the opening series and converted a 2 point conversion.  The Trojans drew first blood, but it seemed the Knights would be able to move the ball on their first series, but ultimately the drive ended with a punt from Colin Moore to pin the Glen Este offense on their own 14 yard line.  Spencer Bultman made a tackle for a loss, but on the next play, the Trojans break a long run, which was eventually stopped by Cole Palmer, but not until the Trojans picked up about half a field.  The Knights capitalized on a snap over the quarterback and the Trojans are tackled by the duo of Daniel Naughton and Jordan Goslee.

The second quarter begins with the Knights down yet another player; Kyle Handorf was injured and removed from the game.  It also saw the Trojans score on a 4th and goal.  After a successful 2 point conversation, the Knights started there drive on their own 40.  A bad snap put the Knights at 2nd and 25 with a 15 yard loss.  Deandre Barnett ran the ball for a gain, but on 3rd down Palmer got sacked for a loss of 7. A 26 yard punt by Colin Moore returns the ball to Glen Este. The Trojans were stopped in the following defensive series by Palmer and Dustin Ketron, but not before Glen Este converted on 4th and 1. A 26 yard touchdown run and a two point conversion made the score 24-0 in favor of the Trojans. Eric Young on the return gives the Knights 1st and 10 from their own 36. A string of penalties brings the Knights to 1st down and 25. Small gains on a completed pass to Barnett and a run puts the Knights at their own 30 to punt.  A shoe string tackle by Matthew Heithaus saves a Trojan TD. A pass deflected by Palmer with less than a minute to go sets up no gain on a nice tackle by Daniel Naughton; however with 15 seconds to go the Trojans run the ball for a 20 yard gain. The pass broken up by Palmer and Ryan Shackelford and a nice tackle by Eric Young keep the Trojans from another score before the half.

The start of the 2nd half begins with Kings receiving the ball and Eric Young bringing the ball to their own 40. Several plays including, Barnett running for several first downs and Palmer’s connecting with Mason Constable for a 5 yard gain gives the Knights 1st and 10 on the Trojans 34. But after a screen pass to Barnett for a 3 yard gain brings the Knights to 4th and 7 and an incomplete pass intended for Eric Young; the Trojans again take over on downs. Jordan Goslee tackles on the run, but not before a 37 yard gain. Three first downs in a row set up the Trojan TD; But the owHextra point no good. The score is 30-0 Trojans. On the ensuing kickoff return Young carries the ball 22 yards, first down on the Knights 44.  The Knights, Colin Moore is again required to put on 4th down. Spencer Bultman has a nice tackle to end the 3rd quarter.

 Trojans score with 8:10 in the 4th, 2 point conversion is good and the Trojans are up 38-0. Kickoff returned by Palmer out to the 14 yard line. The Knights again need to kick after not being able to get anything started and Colin Moore’s punt is blocked and returned for a Trojan TD, conversion good for a 46 -0 Trojans score.  Young returns the kickoff, 15 yards but the Knights will eventually fumble and put the Trojans on the Kings 2 yard line. This results in a touchdown by Glen Este on fourth down from the five yard line. Again the two point conversion is good; Trojans lead 54-0 with 3:19 remaining. The ensuing kickoff is returned by Adam Woeste for fifteen yards. Kings start their possession on their own 20 yard line. First down keeper by Palmer results in no gain. Second down run by Ethan Atkins resulted in a two yard gain. Third down for the Knights and seven to go, Palmer pitches to Atkins for no gain. The punt team returns to the field again with 1:40 remaining in the game. Glen Este returns the ball to the Kings 33 yard line to start the final possession of the game.  Glen Este would run out the clock by taking a knee and the victory, with the final being 54-0, Glen Este. Hopefully next week the Kings Knights will have a better game and with any luck NO INJURIES!! The Knights next game is Saturday, October 1st at home against Little Miami Panthers. Game time is 12:00, and hopefully the Knights can keep the paddle at the castle.

On a very nice night for football, the Knights traveled across the street to take on the Loveland Tigers. The undefeated Tigers had a visible size advantage over the 1-2 Knights.  The Knights kicked off to start the game.  Kings defense kept Loveland to minimal yards to start the game.  It wasn’t until 3 minutes to go in the first that Loveland was able to connect on a pass into the end zone for the first score in the game.  The extra point was also good.  Tigers up 0-7.  With 1:45 to go in the first quarter Cole Palmer intercepted the ball on a Loveland pass that was tipped by the intended receiver.  Deandre Barnett carried the ball on the following two downs allowing the Knights to start the 2^nd quarter with a first down.

First play start of the second quarter, Palmer connected with Tommy Bruns for a 45 yard touchdown. Extra point attempt was good.  Score 7-7.  On the ensuing kick-off, Loveland returned the ball 15 yards before being stopped by #70 Daniel Naughton.  The Tigers start with the ball on their own 35.  The defense foe the Knights held tough, highlighted by a third down pass attempt broken up by Ryan Shackelford.  With 5:02 remaining in the half, Kings has the ball.  With Jackson Barker shaken up on a previous punt coverage, Colin Moore standing in as punter lets a good punt fly off his foot, but gets leveled on a late hit to give the Knights a first down.  The Knights had the ball through the end of the half but were unable to score another touchdown making the half time score 7 all.

The second half proved to be challenge for the Knights. Loveland scored early on aided by missed tackles by the Knights.  Kings offense was held to short gains in the running game and Palmer was unable to complete many passes. The defense did what it could against a very tough Loveland offense.  Tommy Bruns forced a fumble with 5 minutes remaining in the 4^th but the Knights were unable to capitalize.  The score at the end of the game saw the Knights on the losing end of a 7-28 game.

Article Contributed by Kris Bultman

Kings Freshman ran into a one man band Wednesday night in the cold rain at Harrison.  Harrison Wildcats Freshman crew didn’t baffle the Knights with complex offensive strategies, or major razzle dazzle, the basic strategy used was to snap the ball to #11, Jake Weber and have him run.

Harrison got on the board quickly after receiving the opening kickoff and went up 0-6 after failing to convert the 2 point attempt.  Kings moved the ball successfully down the field after receiving Harrison’s kick off.  But the offense sputtered on the 1 yard line after a failure to convert third down into a scoring opportunity with a QB sneak.  The Knights teed the ball up for a 3 pointer but the weather or turf affected the kick which was blocked by a hoard of Harrison’s interior linemen. Turning the ball over to Harrison, the Wildcats started with their heels against their own goal line.

Undaunted by the cold rain, the Kings defense spearheaded by a massive hit by Jordan Goslee dislodged the pigskin from Harrison’s running back, recovered by the Knights for a first and goal.  A few plays later Harrison returns the favor and strips the ball on the goal line, questionably after the plane was broken by the ball, with neither team recovering the pigskin as it skidded through the end zone and out of bounds resulting in touchback rewarded to the Wildcats.  With just a few clicks remaining on the imaginary scoreboard, evidently there were some technical difficulties and the scoreboard wasn’t working, the clock was kept on the field, Harrison elected to run out the time to finish the half, leading by 6 points.

Harrison kicked off to Kings to start the second half and a short kick landed in Tommy Bruns’ capable hands, where he brought the ball forward to the Knights’ 44 yard line for good field position.  Deandre Barnett, as he as so many times this year already, moved the ball down the field successfully  with a few first downs, lead to a quick 1 yard dive left behind a good offensive line surge and a strong drive from Tommy Bruns scoring 6.  The score would remain 6-6 after a wide right PAT attempt.

Harrison broke a long run, surely to be a touchdown if not for a Cole Palmer tackle on about the 20 yard line.  Cole’s tackle is for naught as the Wildcats actually hand off to #42 off the left side of a gassed Knight defense for one of only a few plays not ran by #11 to put the Wildcats up 6-12 and another failed 2pt conversion kept the score there.

After the kickoff Kings started their drive on their own 20 a few drives later Deandre Barnett leaves the Wildcats in his dust and knots the score up at 12-12.  With a PAT attempt to put the Knights ahead pushed wide right the score remained 12-12.

A few plays later the Knights and Wildcats exchange sides for the last time to start the fourth quarter and a few moments after that Harrison’s #11 Weber causes a few missed tackles up the middle and no shoestring tackles from the Kings backfield this time, Weber easily grabs another 6 points for the Wildcats.  This time Harrison’s converts for 2 and the score goes to 12-20.

Kings moves the ball toward their end zone but a tipped pass from Palmer intended for Jacob Stevens ends up in the Wildcats clutches.  A few plays later #11 Weber rips another touchdown past flat footed Knights, but a bad decision by a Wildcat to block in the back about mid field nowhere near the ball, returned the ball to the Kings 48 yard line.  A questionable facemask call on the Knights puts the Wildcats back in scoring position.  Which they do pushing the score to 12-28 after a successful 2pt conversion.

Knights not ready to roll over decide to go to the air, a scrambling Palmer hooks up with Jackson Barker for a critical first down, followed seconds later by the same pair hooking up for a touchdown.  The following 2pt conversion brings the score to 18-28, Knights down 10 with about 2:51 left in the 4^th quarter.

Kings attempts an onside kick but an illegal touching penalty gives the Wildcats a short field.  Those of you reading along can guess who gets the ball next, and a few plays later #11 Weber scores for his last touchdown of the game, followed by his last 2pt conversion to put the Wildcats on top by 18.

Still not giving up, the Knights hook up in the air again from Palmer to Bruns to setup another touchdown for the Knights in the final moments of the game.  The Knights never lost touch with the Wildcats, but also never developed an answer to #11, so you could say we played 11 against #11.

Knights travel to Loveland on Wednesday at 5:00 pm.

Article Contributed by Kelly Palmer and Kris Bultman

In their second game of the season, the Kings Freshman Football Team started things off a little differently than the first.  From the get go, the Knights put points on the board and never looked back. Deandre Barnett scored the first touchdown for the Knights early in the first quarter.  With Adam Woeste’s extra point attempt, the Knights were up 7-0.  Barnett would soon again fire up the offense of Kings.  Two first down runs in a row (19 yards, 13 yards) would set up a 63 yard touchdown pass from Cole Palmer to Tommy Bruns with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter to cap a 95 yard drive and put the Knights ahead 14-0.

Milford countered at the end of the first quarter and started off the second quarter by scoring from four yards out.  The extra point attempt was no good. That point differential didn’t last for long however, as Barnett returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and the Knights were ahead by the score of 21-6.  Later in the quarter, the Freshman Knights were punished by a phantom pass interference call and it seemed the Eagles of Milford would score until Tommy Bruns forced a sack and fumble which was recovered by Spencer Bultman on their own 9 yard line. Time soon expired in the first half, with Kings up 21-6.

Milford opened up the second half with a 6 yard touchdown with 5:06 remaining.  The extra point was broken up by Kings, which made Milford 0-3 on extra point attempts for the night.  On the next possession, the offense fluttered, having to punt after a nice screen pass was tripped up by the Milford defender.  The quarter ended with Milford maintaining possession on the 28 yard line, and Kings up 21-12.

Milford tried to cut the lead, but their plan was unsuccessful, after Jacob Stevens made a very nice play, deflecting a pass attempt on 4^th down.  This stop by the defense, allowed for the Knights with Palmer under center, to hand the ball off to Deandre Barnett for a first down, and then a 50 yard touchdown run soon after.  The original extra point was good, but a false start forced the Knights to kick again.  This attempt was deflected, the first and only miss by Woeste of the game.  With 6:39 remaining, Kings had extended the lead, 27-12. With Milford countering, the Knights defense stepped up again, recovering a fumble on the 45.  A few plays later, the offense was forced to punt.  Performing a miraculous recovery of a bad snap, Jackson Barker shook off several Eagles special team’s players to turn a fourth and long into a first down for the Knights.  Penalties however, would waive off a touchdown pass from Palmer to Bruns and force an eventual turnover on downs with 1:34 remaining.  After taking possession of the ball, Milford thought they had something working when they broke loose for a huge gain.  This nice play was put to a halt by Jackson Barker at the ten yard line, a gain of 70 for Milford.  Milford eventually scored, making the score 27-18, which proved to be the final after the subsequent onside kick was recovered by Kings.

The Knights are on the road next week against the Harrison Wildcats.

Article Contributed by Kelly Palmer and Kris Bultman

The Kings Knights Freshmen had their home opener Wednesday night versus the Warriors of Lebanon.  Starting off slowly, the Knights never really got their game off the ground.  Eric Young had a nice fumble recovery in the first quarter to help stall a thriving Warrior offense.  However, Lebanon would end up breaking the scoreless tie with 7:54 remaining in the second quarter.  On the ensuing kickoff, Jackson Barker seemed to spark the Knights offense,  setting up their only first down of the half, aided by a pricey Lebanon penalty.   The Knights were unable to get another first down on the drive, keeping them out of the endzone. A 40 yard punt, again by Jackson Barker, was a bright spot in the evening.  Lebanon scored once more in the first half, and threatened to score again, but not before a Barnett pick off, right before the end of the half.

The second half was highlighted by several good tackles from Tommy Bruns.  A very nice 25 yd pass from Cole Palmer to Jacob Stevens on the far sideline looked like we were on our way to a touchdown.  However, turnovers would end up haunting the Knights, as the offense for Lebanon could not be slowed down.  When the final horn sounded, Kings was on the wrong side of a 26-0 score.

The Knights play again at home Wednesday against Milford. With the first game out of the way we look forward to a much better second effort by the young Freshman.

Article Contributed by Kelly Palmer and Kris Bultman

Thursday, August 18, 2011 the Knight freshman traveled to the beautiful new stadium of the Mt. Healthy Owls.  Regretfully, the Owl freshmen played as well as their stadium looked.  The Owls blessed with a lot of speed, some large young men and a full complement of confidence from years of success at the younger levels of youth football the freshman Knight’s hands were full.

Knights, working in full scrimmage format moved the ball on the first set of downs, but a few near misses through the air, limited their drives on downs.  Defensively, the Knights, still jelling as a unit had some bright spots, but also gave the coaching staff a list of things that can be improved upon.

Special teams showed improvement from their meeting with Olentangy just 3 short practices ago.  Kicking looked good, but this was a scrimmage and we still weren’t seeing live receiving teams.