East Knox High School

Under wet and cold conditions, Newark Catholic struck first … and second, taking a 15-0 lead in the first quarter. Then, four turnovers to a stifling Green Wave defense, along with an efficient NC ground game was the recipe for a 25-7 victory that ended East Knox’s play-off run and their season.

When this season’s football play-offs began, there were six local schools in the competition in three divisions/regions. Last week, Highland, Northmor and East Knox were still in the mix and played quarter-finals matches. In this week of semi-finals (Round Three) there is one local school still standing – East Knox, which plays Newark Catholic today, for the right to move on to the finals.

The Mount Vernon News sports department’s ninth group of ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations continues the established procedure of spotlighting student-athletes’ skills and performances on the fields and courts of action. This week, the sports calendar for local girls sports was sparse, and there were no Female Athlete nominees. On the boys sports side, play-offs were the talk of the town and one team moved on in the play-offs – the East Knox Bulldogs, by virtue of a 35-28 victory over Glouster Trimble. The victory came down to one play, with 38 seconds left.

Few realized Shane Knepp could jump so high. With 38 seconds remaining, the East Knox senior had to leap over two defenders to snag Peyton Lester’s pass in the endzone. That touchdown – Knepp’s fourth of the game – gave the Bulldogs their first lead in Saturday's Division VII regional quarterfinal against Glouster Trimble.

The East Knox Bulldogs are coming into this season with a team first mentality centered on togetherness. The Bulldogs are optimistic that by clicking as a unit and focussing on playing​​​​​ together, they have the necessary pieces in place to have a strong season.

DANVILLE – Growing up, Peyton Lester was used to seeing an empty space in East Knox’s trophy case.As a freshman, he helped the Bulldogs fill that void with a victory over Danville for the Devil-Dog trophy.Friday, Lester played a big part in keeping that trophy for the fourth straight year.

HOWARD – Shane Knepp’s last two plays capped off a comeback for the ages.Following a 49-yard catch, the East Knox senior took a handoff and saw the endzone, calling to him from behind a row of defensive linemen.With 14 seconds remaining, Knepp stepped to the left, ran past the would-be tacklers and jogged to paydirt.

Cortez runs the show as undefeated Northmor crushes Mt. Gilead 49-16. Northmor’s Marcus Cortez led the Golden Knights to scores early and often, directing his team to a 42-0 lead in the first half, and the Galion school cruised to a 49-16 shellacking of the host Mount Gilead Indians (2-6, 0-5 KMAC), to remain undefeated at 8-0 (5-0 KMAC). East Knox overwhelms Freddies with 49-8 thrashing. In a scoring display led by quarterback Peyton Lester and running back Cole Delaughder, en route to 419 total team yards, and a suffocating defense that held the Freddies to 132 yards in total offense – only 19 yards in the air -- the Bulldogs improved to 6-2 (3-1 KMAC) as they fully dominated Fredericktown (3-5 and 1-4 KMAC) until the final four minutes of the game.

Centerburg wins see-saw battle over Cardington-Lincoln, 24- 20 on last-minute TD. East Knox jumped out to a 14-3 first quarter lead and went into the locker-room up 35-10 at halftime to coast to a 49-10 victory over host Mount Gilead, Friday. East Knox improved to 5-1 and Mount Gilead fell to 2-3. East Knox cruises to first-half lead, routs Mount Gilead 49-10. A tight game between Centerburg and Cardington-Lincoln went back and forth and was decided on a TD by the Trojans with 24 seconds left at C-L, Friday night. The nail-biter left Centerburg with a 3-2 record, and the Pirates at 1-4.

The East Knox Bulldogs dominated play with a balance offense, took a first quarter lead, and after falling behind in the second quarter, went ahead for good, five minutes before halftime and never looked back, in their 42-21 victory Friday, over the Conotton Valley Rockets, Friday. The Danville Blue Devils controlled the play most of the way, but were held off by the Northmor Golden Knights and two big plays, 14-7, Friday night at Memorial Park.

HOWARD – Cole Delaughder knew his team needed a first down.The East Knox sophomore saw the short pass headed his way on fourth and 3.

Mary Eisma Wood, 71, passed away at her home in Poulsbo on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

The East Knox golf team will be looking to expand on the success they had under head coach Stephen Sterling last year.

Michael Lee White, 73, of Hilliard, died peacefully with family by his side on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Mike was born January 30, 1948 to Melvin C. and Ruth P. (née Smith) White of Howard.

In 2006, Cody Reese graduated from East Knox High School. Now, 15 years later, he is the new principal of East Knox Jr./Sr. High School.

East Knox is literally a construction zone with the building of a new junior and senior high school.

The construction of a new 7–12 building is hardly the only change at East Knox.

The longest playoff run in East Knox baseball history came to a halt on Friday, June 4.

East Knox's Sam Printz went a full nine innings to lead the Bulldogs to a 7-5 win over Berne Union and capture the first district championship in school history.

East Knox baseball coach Randy Baugher agonized over who he was going to start in their Division IV district semifinal game against Cardington on Monday, May 24.