Senior Knights emerge victorious on Senior Night over Jersey
By Ray Popkesss
Senior football players and their families pose at midfield before the kickoff.
In the final home game of Triad’s regular season, the Knights’ faithful sent off their seniors with fond memories.
What began as another defensive battle in the first half turned into a barrage of points after the halftime adjustments.
Jersey won the coin toss and elected to defer their choice of possession for the second half, forcing the Knights to receive the opening kickoff. The Panthers forced a punt on the first drive and the Knights ended up doing the same on the subsequent drive, despite intercepting a ball that was negated due to a Triad penalty.
Sophomore place kicker Brock Becker opened up the scoring after nailing a 38-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter.
Triad eventually took the ball back early in the second but fumbled possession to the Panthers in Knight territory. Triad’s defense took a “bend but don’t break” approach, forcing their own fumble at the goalline and recovering on their own four-yard line.
Triad’s offense couldn’t muster any momentum after the turnover, eventually punting again. Mac Musgraves seems to have a knack for finding the ball, this time on defense, as he intercepted a tipped pass on the impending Panther drive coupled with a solid return.
Jacob Odle jetted into the endzone on this possession, a 28-yard handoff that ended with him scoring untouched by the Jersey defense.
Both sidelines took the 10-0 halftime score into the locker room with plenty of adjustments to make.
After Triad’s defense forced another punt on the Panthers opening drive of the half, Odle’s legs stayed hot as he took another carry to the house, this time a 47-yard scamper.
A 17-point deficit was where Jersey drew the line, as they cracked the scoreboard with a touchdown late in the third quarter.
Triad answered back with John Holloway’s legs on the following drive, as he carried the ball for most of the way, capping off the drive with a touchdown of his own and regaining their 17-point lead, 24-7.
Triad’s kickoff team prepares to chase down the returner after John Holloway’s touchdown.
As the fourth quarter began, both offensives took on even more aggressive gameplans; Jersey to try and claw back into contention and Triad to put the game away.
Dawson Deatherage secured a sack of Jersey’s quarterback on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Knights.
Triad tried closing out the game on offense by going for it on fourth and short, but Jersey forced a turnover on downs.
Jayden Howell put the nail in the coffin after high pointing a deep pass on defense and taking his interception all the way to paydirt behind a wall of make-do blockers.
Jersey picked up a late score after the turnover, but the game was all but over at that point.
Senior Landon Wongler kneeled out the clock for the Knights en route to being carried off the field through the student body tunnel, putting a bow on Senior Night and the box score, with a final of 31-14.
Triad will travel to Waterloo High School this Friday, Oct. 17 for their final MVC matchup. The Bulldogs are coming off a week of spoiling the Highland homecoming and have won three straight.
