Cruising past Crockett

Knights overwhelm Crockett to claim fourth place, can clinch playoff spot with win over Travis

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Caleb Melville

Coach G got a Gatorade shower following the Knights decisive win over Crockett in a game that all but punched the Knights’ ticket to the playoffs.

Gregory James and Kristen Tibbetts

Gregory James, photo editor

The Knights (5-4, 3-3) beat the Crockett Cougars (4-5, 3-3) 42-3 at House Park on Thursday. With the win, the Knights have almost certainly earned a fourth-place spot in district and the state playoff berth that comes with it. Barring a win by Crockett against highly favored Dripping Springs (7-2, 5-1) and an upset win for Travis (0-8, 0-6) over McCallum, which has won 18 out the last 19 meetings between the two teams, the Knights will play Hutto in the first round of the 5A, D1 playoffs. The Knights offense was prolific against Crockett, scoring six touchdowns to Crockett’s lone field goal. Junior quarterback Cole Davis led the offense with three touchdowns on the night.

The Knights’ offense started quickly with a 30-yard touchdown run by Davis in the first quarter, followed on the next drive by a 7-yard run by Davis in the second quarter. The Knights defense was able to hold Crockett only to one field goal in the second quarter that made the score 14-3 in the second quarter. The Knights’ offense finished off the first half scoring with a rushing touchdown from one yard out from junior running back Jalen Sutton.

Grace Nugent
HOMECOMING HEROICS: Cole Davis led the Knights in points, running in three touchdowns in the Knights 42-3 route of Crockett at House Park on Thursday Nov. 1. Davis, seen her running his second touchdown of the game in, had 93 yards on nine carries.

After the half, already leading by 18, the Knights continued to put up the points as they scored on a 10-yard run by Davis to complete his touchdown hat trick. The Knights would score twice more on a 59-yard sprint down the sideline by senior Deron Gage and a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Caleb Brown. For Brown, the score was his first touchdown as a varsity player.

“It felt great to finally get a touchdown,” Brown said after the game.  “I’m doing it [getting the win] for all the seniors since it’s their last night at House park. There were a lot of people who thought this wouldn’t be possible.”

Gabby Sherwood
FIRST TIME’S THE CHARM: Junior Caleb Brown runs the ball into the end zone and celebrates getting his first varsity touchdown. The Knights would win the game 42-3 after this final touchdown.

This game was like a movie, and if we have a good week of practice this week our practice will show in what happens on the field

— Alvino Carbajal

The Knights hope to carry this momentum into this week’s matchup against Travis in the annual Battle of the Bell that dates back to the two schools’ founding in 1953. The Rebels were routed by LBJ, 63-0, at Nelson Field. McCallum is on a two-game winning streak going into Friday’s matchup.

“We all executed, we all did our job, and we did what we have to do to win,” Alvino Carbajal said after the game. ” This game was like a movie, and if we have a good week of practice this week our practice will show in what happens on the field.”

Photo by Grace Nugent
DO YOUR JOB: Coach Thomas Gammerdinger talks with the defense after coming off the field during the Knights’ 42-3 win over Crockett. The Knights defense was able to hold Crockett to only three points.

The Knights travel to Burger Stadium to play Travis on Friday this week, and will travel to Hutto (8-0, 5-0) to face the Hippos if they do make the 4th spot in district to go to playoffs.

The Knights will likely rely heavily on the running tandem of Jalen Sutton and Deron Gage going into next week against Travis to finish out the regular season and against Hutto in round one of the playoffs. Against Crockett, the team had 391 yards total offense, 372 of those yards coming on the ground.

Gregory James
A KNIGHT ON THE FIELD: A PRINCE OFF IT: Quarterback Cole Davis was named the 2018 junior class prince alongside princess Amelia Paul. The rest of the homecoming court included senior king and queen Dillon Guerrero and Ardis Warrenfells, duke and duchess Aydan Howison and Zoe Hutchens, and freshmen baron and baroness, Bobby Currie and Tracy Atoo.

 

Grace Nugent
FIGHT NIGHT: Things got chippy between McCallum and Crockett, with several players throwing jabs at each throughout the game and talking bad against their opponent. One such incident went down on a Cole Davis touchdown run between receiver Takai Satberry and a Crockett defender.
Dave Sobin
THURSDAY KNIGHT LIGHTS: Cole Davis is lifted up by Simon Royder after scoring the Knights’ opening touchdown to make the score 7-0.