Friday night, the Knights won 27-20 over their arch-rival: the Fort Zumwalt South Bulldogs.

Throughout the first quarter, neither team’s offense could get anything going as both defenses were playing exceptionally well. Whether it was the Knights or Bulldogs with the ball, the outcome was usually the same: a three and out with a punt to the opposing team.

However, the Knights came out firing on all cylinders in the second quarter as sophomore running back Larry Edwards scored on a 15-yard run, 26 seconds into the quarter. After the touchdown, though, the Bulldogs defense settled down for nearly the rest of the quarter. However, with about a minute and a half remaining in the second quarter, the Knights set up for a field goal after a failed third down attempt, and kicker Nick DiMarco picked up the bad snap and ran it for a first down. The Knights got fired up, and with 18 seconds remaining in the half, quarterback Jake Schneider threw a touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Andre Wooten. The Knights led 14-0 heading into the locker room for halftime.

Coming out of the locker rooms for the second half, the Knights picked up right where they left off when Reed Lundsford, junior return specialist, returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown.

Going into the fourth quarter the Knights were up 21-0.

The Bulldogs finally got their offense going in the fourth quarter as running back Dan Elder ran for a touchdown. It was the first points the Bulldogs had scored all year. They had been shutout in their previous two games of the year. Not even six minutes after their first touchdown, Bulldog wide receiver Kyle Strode caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to get the Bulldogs within one score of tying it up.

Only a minute after the Bulldogs touchdown, Edwards fumbled the ball, and the Bulldogs ran it in for a touchdown which made the score 27-20 . This touchdown was overshadowed as Edwards did not get up on the play. He lay there and did not move for several minutes, and was carried off of the field by two teammates because he could not apply any pressure to his leg. He was taken directly to the cart, and was carted off of the field in obvious, agonizing pain.

The look on the sidelines of the Knights was very concerning as they looked upset and worried about their star player. They had lost all of their momentum they had. Instead of dancing and jumping for big plays and making gestures towards the fans to get them pumped up, the players were standing side-by-side with their heads down.

This attitude of the players carried over to field. With two minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs had the ball with an opportunity to tie the game. They were walking all over the Knights defense, and the Knights did not have any answers. The Bulldogs pounded the ball within the five yard line of Howell North, but the Knights defense stiffened up and stopped them on three straight plays. With 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, it was fourth down on the two yard line for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs tried a running play, but there was a wall of Howell North players there to stop them and guarantee the win.

With the win the Knights improve their record to 1-2, and try to get ready for the fourth ranked Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars who will be looking to get back on track as they suffered a loss in Arkansas this week. The Bulldogs are now 0-3 and will try to get their first win of the season against conference opponent Troy next week.