By Gray Haynes

Friday night, the North Webster Knights made their final trip of the season as they ventured south to Kaplan to take on the Pirates.  This was the Knights’ second trip to Kaplan, as they made the trip in 2016.  North Webster entered the playoffs as the number 25 team in non-select division III while Kaplan was was the number 8 team.  The game began with North Webster kicking off to Kaplan.  Kaplan marched down the field with a running game that was relentless.  In their first drive, the Pirates did not attempt a pass.  They crossed the goal line with a little less than eight minutes left in the first quarter.  The two point conversion attempt was thwarted by the Knights’ defense to make the score 6-0.  

Kaplan, then, kicked off to North Webster, and due to a huge hit by the Pirates’ kickoff team, the ball flew into the air where Kaplan recovered near the 20 yard line.  A few plays later, Kaplan again reached paydirt.  Again, the two point conversion was no good, and the score was 12-0.  The rest of the game was more of the same.  Kaplan kicked off to North Webster.  The Knight’s were unable to get anything going offensively due to two false start penalties on the first drive.  They were forced to punt the ball back to Kaplan.  The Pirates, again, found the endzone behind a strong, physical offensive line.  This time, the two point conversion was good to make the score 20-0.  

North Webster received the kickoff and, again, fumbled the return.  This gave Kaplan great field position again.  They used their physical offensive line to punch the ball across the goalline again and converted the two point conversion to make the score 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter was more of the same, and the score was 43-0 at the half.  Kaplan was able to score another touchdown in the third quarter and kicked the PAT to make the final score 50-0.

The result of this game made it seem as though the trip down from Springhill took its toll on the Knights.  Although the record was not indicative of it, the Knights’ first season under the leadership of head coach Christopher Wilson was successful.  The team had to endure injuries to the starting running back and quarterback as well as other key players throughout the season which led to playing some younger players and having to move many players around.  The Knights have four starters returning on offense and eight starters returning on defense, and many of the replacements gained much valuable experience during this injury plagued season.  The Knights look forward to an intense off season-the first under Coach Wilson- while Kaplan will host Pine in round two of the playoffs.