The Knights will be battling it out with the Bulldogs this Friday, Sept. 4. The Knights of FHN will be looking to build off of an impressive 23-7 win over the FZE Lions, while the FZS Bulldogs are coming off of two blow-out wins, the most recent of which was a 41-7 pummeling of the FHC Spartans.

“They [the FZS Bulldogs] are a good team,” head coach Brandon Gregory said. “They’re 2-0, but they’ve played some teams that weren’t better than them. I’m not taking anything away from them, but they’re a good team, and it should be a good game.”

The Knights players are looking forward to another challenging game of this young season after a Week One loss to the perennial contenders of Vianney and a defensive test against FZE last week. The big challenge this week will be keeping Cameron Henderson, the FZS running back with 375 yards and five touchdowns on 40 carries through just two games, from running all over the Knights’ defense.

“We know they have a good running game,” Gregory said, “especially with their running back [Henderson]. It’s just really trying to take him away and try to force somebody else to step up. We know they like to run the ball with him, so we’re just preparing ourselves to basically take him out of his game.”

The defense won’t be the only facet of the Knights that will be tested. Their offense is in for a struggle against a Bulldog defense that has allowed an average of just 6½ points per contest. In addition, the offensive unit is being led by a sophomore by the name of Connor Gallagher. Some may not respect an underclassmen at the helm of the offense, but that is not how the team sees it.

“He [Gallagher] has been working out well,” senior offensive lineman and captain Kyle Springli said. “He’s definitely a good leader, even though he’s younger.”

Springli also shows little concern about his team’s seasoned offensive line before they face the ball-hawking Bulldog front.

“It’s not just one person on the line,” Springli said. “It’s everyone coming together to do what we do, and it shows on the field.”

No one can blame the Knights for their confidence. They’re 1-1 record is the first time that they’ve started .500 since 2001, and it is the first time that the team has even achieved a .500 record at any point in the season since 2006. Not only that, but they are coming off of a 23-7 drubbing of the FZE Lions, a game that included not one, but two punt returns for touchdowns by junior Donnell Hawkins to give FHN a 23-0 lead at halftime.

“They [the returns] fired the team up,” Hawkins said. “It gave us hope that we could win more games, but it’s not about me; it’s about the team. And being 1-1 builds momentum for the team. We can go very far if we work together.”

The final problem that the Knights will have to hurdle is their rash of early-season injuries. In the game against FZE, many key players, like Hawkins and senior Blake Lodde, missed time because of minor tweaks. Both later returned, but the fear of heat- and physicality-related injuries always looms large, especially in the early season.

“The biggest thing is that, early in the season, you have to preach it to them to stay hydrated,” Gregory said. “Our numbers are low, so there’s not a lot of banging and tackling going on in practice knowing that we’ve got to get guys back healthy and knowing that we’ve got to keep the guys healthy that are healthy. So, it’s more of a mental practice instead of being physical. We’re doing everything we can to keep the guys hydrated and keep guys healthy.”

As long as the Knights can get past their injuries, they believe that they can not only win this game, but that they can be very successful this season and break the .500 barrier for the first time since ‘06.

“I think it can be a big momentum swing for us,” Gregory said. “I’ve been telling our guys that we can be very successful this year. We’ve got Howell and Zumwalt West where we’re going to have to bring our A-game, but in the other games there are legitimate chances that we can win. We’re just trying to keep the guys encouraged and excited. I’m excited. My staff is constantly putting in the work to keep these guys prepared, and I’m excited to see how this turns out.”