TriStateFootball.com

Kings cages Tigers

LOVELAND, oh – A quick start put Kings in a position to set the tone on defense as they snuck into Loveland and perhaps put the final nail into the coffin of the Tigers playoff aspirations.

Just seven seconds into the second quarter the Knights jumped out to 14-0 lead behind two touchdown passes by quarterback Tyler Knecht.

Jared-Dorsa-Kings

At that point the Kings defense began putting its stamp on the contest. They held Loveland star running back Luke Waddell to just 37 yards on 18 carries. One of the lowest totals of his career. His longest run of the night was just seven yards. The Knights stuffed the Loveland run holding them to just 30 yards on 37 carries.

The Tigers did move the ball through the air but they had to work hard for every yard of it. Loveland quarterback Drew Plitt completed 20/25 passes for 233 yards but was under constant pressure all evening. Kings sacked Plitt six times and held him to -32 yards rushing on 10 carries. Blake Bockrath had two sacks for the victors. They were Bockrath’s first two takedowns of the year after recording 14.5 sacks as a junior. Teammate Dan Sichterman had one-and-a-half sacks to raise his season total to eight.

Drew-Plitt-Loveland-2015

All of that tenacity was made possible by Knecht who bounced back brilliantly after a tough outing in Kings’ loss last week to Turpin. Knecht finished the evening going 12/15 for 156 yards, had 69 more yards on the ground and the two scoring tosses. He did not commit a turnover. Senior Avery Koller paced the Knights ground game with 101 yards and his 12th touchdown of the year. He went over 100 yards rushing for the fifth straight week.

Down 24-3, Loveland scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter but Kings rose to the occasion to shut the door. With four losses the Tigers must play flawlessly to get back into the playoff picture.

“The kids are starting to play like the capable of so now we just need to take one game at a time and see what happens,” Kings head coach Andy Olds said. The Knights are still in a position to earn a piece of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference title. A Week 9 matchup with Glen Este could be the deciding factor on the crown.

KINGS 7-10-7-0-24
at LOVELAND 0-3-0-14-17
K: Wise 21 pass from Knecht (Guckenberger kick)
K: Guckenberger 22 pass from Knecht (Guckenberger kick)
L: Boucher 30 field goal
K: Guckenberger 26 field goal
K: Koller 5 run (Guckenberger kick)
L: Bezjak 4 pass from Plitt (Boucher kick)
L: Waddell 3 run (Guckenberger kick)
RECORDS: Kings (4-1, 1-1); Loveland (1-4, 0-2)

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply