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.
Based on performances, we ask ADs, coaches and the community to nominate one boy and one girl from their athletic programs to compete against other schools’ nominations. We ask for a recap of their worthy performances and a picture. Please send your nominations to me, Mike Blake, MVN Sports Editor, at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com. Make sure YOUR school is represented.
This week, the sports calendar for local girls sports was sparse, and there were no Female Athlete nominees. On the boys sports side, playoffs 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.
The Bulldogs trailed, 28-27, with 2:30 to play when they forced the Tomcats to punt. EK quarterback Peyton Lester completed two passes for first downs while the clock ran. On the next play, he was hit from behind and fumbled, but an offensive lineman pounced on the loose ball.
On the next play, Lester sent the ball through the air to Shane Knepp. He lofted the ball so high that Knepp had to leap tall buildings in a single bound to catch the jump ball. East Knox football coach Cody Reese said, “I didn’t know he could jump that high.” But jump he did and Knepp came down in possession of the ball for the winning score.
So the nominees come down to the quarterback who threw it and the wide receiver who caught it. Both deserve nominations, but who gets the award?
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Peyton Lester
Senior quarterback Lester completed 24 of 38 passes for 395 yards. He threw for all five of East Knox’s touchdowns. Four of them were put up high enough for receivers to have to bring them down. Knepp did that three times, while Blake Bonham caught one. Lester threw one interception and carried nine times for 27 yards. He also assisted on two tackles on defense.
On more than once occasion this season, Reese has praised Lester’s leadership on the offensive side of the ball.
Shane Knepp
Senior WR Knepp finished with nine receptions for 183 yards and four touchdowns. He leaped high to bring down three jump-ball catches for touchdowns and caught a “normal” strike for a touchdown on an inside slant pattern. Knepp also made one solo tackle and assisted on three others on defense.
It isn’t the first example of last-minute heroics for Knepp this season. On Oct. 15, against Highland, Knepp hauled in a 49-yard reception-and-run inside the red zone. On the next play, with 14 seconds left, he took a handoff, stepped to the left, ran past the charging tacklers and scored to ensure a comeback victory over the favored Scots.
Who wins?
When you have a QB leader who throws five TDs and a receiver who catches four of them, one on a Superman leap without Spiderman's web but with sticky hands to win a game in the final 38 seconds … both deserve a nomination, but who gets the nod as ATHLETE OF THE WEEK?.
In this competition, we congratulate both student-athletes for their clutch performances. Lester threw the ball up, as he did on four others, and had to do it with skill to put it where his teammate could go get it, but since it took a masterfully timed leap by Knepp, and sure hands to bring it down, and since he had done it several other times during the game, it comes down to the details and by the slimmest of margins, we name Shane Knepp MOUNT VERNON NEWS MALE ATHLETE of the WEEK.
