HOWARD — The Northmor Golden Knights football squad took their undefeated record on the road on Friday to face the East Knox Bulldogs in week seven high school football action. The Bulldogs also entered the contest without a blemish on their record.
After their battle atop the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference standings, it would be the Knights remaining unscathed, defeating their hosts; 15-14. Northmor now sits at 7-0 overall and 4-0 within the league while the Bulldogs fall to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in KMAC action.
In week eight action, Northmor will return home to play host to the Mount Gilead Indians (0-7, 0-4). For East Knox, they will be on the road against the Fredericktown Freddies (1-6, 1-3).
Conor Becker would get the scoring started for the contest, dashing into the endzone from 10 yards out less than five minutes into the game. Becker would also tack on the two-point conversion to put the Golden Knights ahead; 8-0. That would prove to be the end of the scoring in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the hometown Bulldogs provided an answer to the earlier Northmor score as Kasson Krownapple punched in the score from two yards out. Weston Melick added the extra-point and the Knights’ lead was cut to one; 8-7. That’s where the score would stand at the half in the defensive battle between unbeatens.
The third quarter would see no change in the scoreboard and in the fourth, East Knox would take their first lead of the game. Northmor’s Gavin Ramos caught a pass from quarterback Hunter Mariotti but would cough the ball up. Melick would recover the fumble and ramble in for a 47-yard touchdown. Melick would then add the PAT to put the Bulldogs up by a tally of 14-8 with just 5:09 remaining in regulation. Looking to bounce back after the costly turnover, the Northmor offense was able to drive the ball deep into ‘Dogs’ territory before Becker ran in his second touchdown of the night. After the 20-yard scamper by Becker, Nate Ruhl tacked on the extremely extra-point to put the Knights up by the eventual final score of 15-14.
On the night, East Knox would outgain Northmor on offense. The Bulldogs tallied 246 (181 passing, 65 rushing) yards of total offense to the Knights’ 243 (143 passing, 100 rushing). Both teams would finish with two interceptions and a fumble lost apiece while Northmor was flagged 10 times for 60 yards. The home team was penalized just five times, equating to 25 yards.
Mariotti finished the contest at 16/26 on his pass attempts, leading to 139 yards and two interceptions. Mariotti also carried the ball five times for 10 yards in the victory. Becker turned in 87 yards rushing on 28 carries and the team’s only two touchdowns while also catching three Mariotti passes for 29 yards.
Cole Dille finished with five catches for 45 yards while teammate Blake Miller gained 41 yards on four receptions. Ramos had 24 receiving yards on four catches. Defensively, Chris Bood and Logan Randolph recorded the two interceptions for the Golden Knights.
Northmor controlled the ball for a total of 26:17 on the evening and notched 14 total first downs in the process.
In other week seven KMAC action, Centerburg (4-3, 2-2) bested Mount Gilead; 26-18. Danville (2-5, 2-2) outlasted Cardington (0-7, 0-4); 27-14. Highland (6-1, 4-0) moved into a first-place tie with the Golden Knights by defeating Fredericktown; 44-7.
