HOWARD – Both teams will be stretched to the limit when East Knox football welcomes Shadyside to Howard in an OHSAA Division VII, Region 27 quarterfinal matchup at Chet Looney Stadium on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
The No. 2-seeded Bulldogs (6-1) defeated Toronto 20-6 in the second round on Oct. 16. Now, they will have their hands full, trying to stop Shadyside’s multi-pronged offensive attack. The Tigers (4-3) placed eighth in the tough Ohio Valley AA Conference.
The seventh-seeded Tigers have junior quarterback Rhys Francis – a running threat with a very good arm. Francis has a pair of outstanding targets in wide receivers Mason VanNest and Jordan Joseph. He can also throw to Alec Shepherd, along with tight end Ryan Florance.
On Oct. 16, VanNest (17 receptions, 301 yards in the regular season) caught a Francis 65-yard touchdown pass in his team’s 48-14 win over New Matamoras Frontier in the second round.
Running back Wyatt Reiman (106 carries, 607 yards and 10 TDs in the regular season) is the Tigers' primary ball carrier, along with Jacob Visnic. Both are a threat to catch passes out of the backfield, as well.
“I feel that we have the athletic players to match (Shadyside),” East Knox senior defensive back and wide receiver Braden Kannady said. “We have the strength in both our run and pass game. I think that teams, from here on out, are going to be bigger than us, so we have to use our athleticism and speed.”
Last Friday’s win against Toronto was a team effort for the Bulldogs, but the talk was about Bulldogs’ freshman running back Cole Delaughder, who racked up 157 yards on 20 carries.
“He’s a pretty laid-back, quiet kid,” East Knox coach Cody Reese said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s looking forward to this week, for sure.”
East Knox quarterback Peyton Lester was 5-for-12 passing for 100 yards, hitting Shane Knepp three times and connecting with Weston Melick for a big 71-yard pass. Lester also found Kannady for a 10-yard pass reception against Toronto.
Despite allowing 114 yards to Toronto running back Garrett Dozier on Oct. 16, the Bulldogs’ defense only gave up a touchdown and that was only because Toronto got an interception runback deep into Bulldogs’ territory. The Bulldog defense shutout Toronto the rest of the way, only getting stronger as the game wore on. The Bulldogs’ allowed positive yards on only four of Dozier’s final eight carries of the game.
“We have to make sure that we’re making tackles, especially with teams that spread us out,” Reese said. “We can’t have any missed tackles. We have to make sure we’re executing.”
