After a few tough losses, the Knights Started Strong and Finished the Socorro Bulldogs

By Vianet Lopez
Sports Reporter, Hanks

After a few tough losses, the Knights started strong and finished the Socorro Bulldogs, 46-15.

The team (1-4 District 1-5A) will play the Bel Air Highlanders at Excalibur Stadium on Friday, Oct. 21.  Game time 7 p.m.

"It feels really, really good," head coach Jeff Cleveland said.  "We've been working hard.  It was a nice job by the boys.  We played well tonight."

From the start, the Knights came out with a strong offensive showing. Within the first two minutes, a screen pass from junior Emilio Noriega (16-for-29, 4 TDs, 1 INT) to junior Patrick Pettis (6 rec, 116 yards, 2 TDs) gave the team their first touchdown of the night.

After a missed extra point, the Bulldogs drove the length of the field and took the lead on a touchdown run and successful tw0-point conversion.  The Knights quickly scored two take a 12-8 lead.

"It was a lot of the running," senior Adonis Powell (15 rushes, 121 yards, 12 TDs) said.  "They were trying to blitz a lot on the outside.  The inside runs worked a lot and quick passes."

In the second quarter, the Knights began to separate themselves from the Bulldogs as Noriega found his groove and completed 11 of 12 passes in the first half.

With only 1.2 seconds left, Noriega threw a hail-mary pass in the end zone as time expired.  After senior Damon Burkett (2 rec, 29 yards) tipped it in the air, senior Kris Chacon (3 rec, 54 yards, 1 TD) came down with the catch to make the score, 32-15.

The Knights were able to put two more touchdowns on the board in a sloppy second half as they put the game out of reach.

"We came out in the second half and had a lot of mistakes," Powell said.  "We're just going to focus on the next opponent and watch a lot of film."

On defense, Junior Dominique Carter led the defense when he returned an interception for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

All stats provided by maxpreps.com.