By Gray Haynes
In an odd Thursday night game, the North Webster Knights hosted the defending state champion Sterlington Panthers. The Knights received the opening kickoff and couldn’t get much going against a stingy Panther defense. They were forced to punt where Sterlington took over near their own 25 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Javion Hawthorne ripped the ball from Sterlington’s quarterback. The big nose tackle, Bryce Parish, fell on the loose ball to give the ball back to the Knights. After a couple of inside runs, the Knights attempted a pass that fell incomplete to the turf. On fourth down, the home team attempted a 32 yard field goal that missed wide right. The score remained knotted at 0. Sterlington took over on their own 22 yard line and began a fourteen play drive that resulted in a rushing touchdown from one yard out. The extra point made the score 7-0. The Knights were unable to get anything going on offense and were once again forced to punt to begin the second quarter.
On the punt, Sterlington was flagged for roughing the kicker. North Webster retained the ball with a first down. After a good run on first down, the Knights attempted a pass on second down that went off the hands of the receiver into the waiting arms of Sterlington’s safety who returned the pick for a touchdown. However, one of the officials had inadvertently blown his whistle indicating the play was dead. The ruling was that the play was to be replayed with the score wiped off the board. The Knights were able to pick up a first down then were flagged for a penalty. The offense couldn’t recover from the penalty, and the punt team was forced to trot back onto the field. After the punt, Sterlington took over at their own 21 with a little over seven minutes left in the half. Sterlington had another long drive down the field. Thirteen plays took about six minutes off the clock, and the Panthers scored a touchdown on a short pass in the flats. The Knights were flagged on the extra point, so Sterlington elected to go for two. The try was successful making the score 15-0 with about two minutes left in the half. Halftime came with the score 15-0 in favor of Sterlington.
Sterlington received the opening kickoff of the second half. They returned the kickoff out to their own 42 where the offense took over. Seven plays and 2:10 of clock time later they scored their third touchdown of the night against a tired Knights’ defense. The extra point made the score 22-0. The Panthers kicked off to the Knights who were forced into another three and out. The punt gave Sterlington the ball back at their own 30 yard line with 7:05 left in the 3rd period. Two plays later, Sterlington scored on a 60 yard dive play. With the extra point, the score was 29-0 in the third. The Knights fumbled the kickoff and Sterlington recovered at the North Webster 38 yard line. It took the defending state champs about five plays to score again to make the score 36-0. Sterlington attempted an onside kick which the Knights recovered at their own 47 yard line. Then, on a 3rd down and 6, quarterback Justin Stewart found receiver Braylon Washington on a 49 yard catch and run for a touchdown. The extra point made the score 36-7 still in the 3rd period. Sterlington had a nice kick return out to the Knights’ forty yard line, and five plays later, they scored again to make the score 43-7.
The ensuing kickoff began the final period. The Knights seemed to have something going on offense until a pass found its way into the hands of a Sterlington linebacker who took it all the way to the end zone. That made the score 50-7 which would be the final. Next week, the Knights continue district play traveling to Richwood for a 7:00 kickoff. These last three games could determine whether the Knights host a playoff game in round one or if they are left out of the playoff picture, so all fans are encouraged to come out and support these young men as they fight for a win at Richwood.