Knights defeat Rebels in one-sided Battle of the Bell

Caleb Melville

Sophomore Charlie Pecina and junior Caleb Brown wheel the bell towards the team bus after the Knight 63-0 win over the Travis Rebels on Friday. The win marks the 19th time the Knights have taken home the bell in the past 20 years. Photo by Caleb Melville.

Steven Tibbetts, sports editor
November 13, 2018

The McCallum Knights varsity football team took off running past the Travis Rebels on Friday at Burger Stadium.

Senior running back Jalen Sutton got the scoring started for the Knights with a rushing touchdown to put the Knights up 7-0. McCallum followed that score up with four more touchdowns, three by senior Deron Gage and one by junior Darius Lewis, and a pair of interceptions by seniors Ryan Bonesteel and Anthony Morris. At the end of the first quarter, McCallum was dominating Travis 35-0.

Senior Deron Gage runs the ball during McCallum’s 63-0 victory over Travis. Gage scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone, which helped put the Knights up 35-0 after 12 minutes. Photo by Gabby Sherwood.

The second quarter was more of the same for the Knights. It was junior quarterback Cole Davis’s turn to run the ball into the end zone with two rushing touchdowns in the quarter. With seven touchdowns and seven extra points, the Knights offense scored a total of 49 points in the first half, while the defense pitched a shutout to the Rebels’ offense.

McCallum slowed down the pace on offense and eased down on the scoring, only reaching the end zone twice in the second half. In the third quarter, Davis scored on his third rushing touchdown of the night. The, junior running back Caleb Brown scored a touchdown in his second straight game on a long run in the fourth quarter. The Knights defense again kept the Rebels from scoring in the second half and finished the game with a 63-0 win.

Junior Caleb Brown runs in a final touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Knights win over Travis. The run marked two straight games in which Brown has scored a touchdown. Photo by Anna McClellan.

The Knights have dominated the Rebels for a while now. The last time the Knight lost to Travis was in 2010, and the Knights have won 19 of the last 20 games against their rival.

The win puts the Knights’ final overall regular season record at 6-4 and 4-3 in District 12, good for fourth place in the standings. The Knight’s fourth place finish gets them into the playoffs, but it also means McCallum will have to face the first place finisher in Region 3 District 11, the Hutto Hippos, on Thursday in Hutto. The Hippos enter the game undefeated with a 9-0 record and are currently the 17th ranked team in Texas and the 4th ranked Division 5A-1 team according to MaxPreps.

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Photos by Ian Clennan, Lily Dasher, Anna McClellan, Caleb Melville, Grace Nugent, Lindsey Plotkin, Gabby Sherwood and Dave Winter.