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. With the catch, his team had the first down. Then, he broke a tackle.
There was no one else in front of him.
“I was going for the first down, but then I broke that tackle, and I was in,” he said.
Delaughder’s third touchdown of the game gave his Bulldogs a three-touchdown lead over the visiting Centerburg Trojans. East Knox held on to win, 41-28, in a battle between the two most recent Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference champions.
Delaughder’s catch was his first of the game; he added a 13-yard play later. But, it was his 203 yards on 34 carries that highlighted the night.
He slipped through holes created by the offensive line, then dodged the first tackler on nearly every carry. Delaughder scored twice in the first half on short carries, both of which broke ties.
Meanwhile, East Knox’s defense focused on Centerburg standout Tyler Johnson. The Bulldogs allowed Johnson to gain just 16 yards in the second half, 11 of which came on the Trojans’ first play.
That defense forced four turnovers, interceptions by Peyton Lester and Dillon Moreland and a pair of fumbles.
“The defense put pressure on us, and we had to adapt to that, and we weren’t able to do that,” Centerburg coach Andy Colella said. “The result is, we weren’t able to run the ball. And, whenever you turn the ball over … you’re not to win any games, especially against a team like that.”
East Knox (3-1, 1-0 KMAC) had a short week of practice after playing last week’s game against Crestview on Saturday. The Bulldogs were beaten up on both sides of the line in that game. Head coach Cody Reese was determined not to allow that to happen again.
“We needed to work on us – how we approach the game and how we execute. We do that all the time,” Reese said. “This past week, we took that and ran with it.”
Centerburg (2-1, 0-1) also had a short week of practice. The Trojans had to cancel last week’s game against Worthington Christian due to COVID restrictions. They weren’t able to practice until Tuesday.
“You can use that excuse if you want to,” Colella said. “But at the end of the day, if you turn the ball over and you can’t stop their offense, you’re not going to win anything.”
Despite the short week, Centerburg came out firing. The Trojans scored on their opening drive by going 65 yards on 11 plays, capped off with a 13-yard pass from Jack Gregory to Jarred Rings.
Following the score, a less-than-thrilled Reese huddled his team on the sideline and spoke to them.
“We’ve started slow a few times this year,” Reese said. “So they punched us in the mouth. So, hey, how are we going to respond? And that’s what they did. They responded. That’s what you hope from your seniors. I’m super-proud of that group.”
The Bulldogs responded with a 55-yard touchdown on a brilliant throw from Lester to Moreland, who snagged the ball out of the air and spun toward the goal line in one smooth motion. It was Moreland’s only catch of the game.
Lester ended the day 12-of-21 passing for 220 yards.
Following Delaughder’s first touchdown, Centerburg tied the game with an eight-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a Johnson dive into the end zone.
East Knox scored two more times in the first half. Delaughder’s second touchdown, a four-yard scamper, gave the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead. Following a fumble, the Bulldogs took over at their own 32 and scored on a pass from Lester to Shane Knepp with eight seconds to go.
“Shane and I have played together since second grade,” Lester said. “We’ve always been quarterback and receiver. He’s a phenomenal kid. He always manages to get open.”
At the start of the second half, Lester’s interception led to a drive that ended in an 11-yard touchdown run by Carson Steinmetz that gave East Knox a 34-14 lead.
Gregory went 16-of-25 for 200 yards and three scores. Tyler Johnson, Rings and Alex Johnson all caught touchdowns from Gregory.
Tyler Johnson finished with 78 yards on 21 carries.
With perhaps its biggest hurdle out of the way, East Knox can now concentrate on Cardington-Lincoln. Centerburg hosts Highland.
