Having been the team’s leading rusher coming into Friday night’s game against Valwood, only to move under center after an injury earlier this season to starter John Schramm, Knapp passed for 50 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles evened their GISA Region 3I-AA record at 1-1 (4-3 overall) Friday with a 17-7 win.
“Two yards (passing) would have been a career high before this game,” Knapp laughed.
Knapp, however, did not totally abandon the run as he rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries. Completing touchdown passes of 9 yards to Caleb Farmer and 35 to Peter Morton, Knapp was only one reason for the Eagles’ win.
Another was defense, as the Eagles sacked Valiants quarterback Todd Baker nine times.
“We saw that their line was stopping on some plays and going hard on some other plays, and on the plays they went well, they did really good,” SCA defensive back Zander Hatcher said. “But at other times, they got lazy and we took advantage of that. We had been running a lot and are in better shape, and it showed (Friday).”
No one noticed that more than Valwood coach Mike Patrick.
“They got after us well,” Patrick said. “They’re a well-coached team.”
After losing last weekend, 42-13, against Windsor, coach Ted “Rock” Knapp (Nile’s father) felt his team took a big step toward reaching the playoffs. Considering the offensive changes his team has had to make, coach Knapp feels things are coming along nicely.
“(Nile’s) not a quarterback,” he began, “he’s a tailback and he’s somewhat miserable under center in that shotgun. But in terms of what is the best chemistry and what gives us the best chance to move the football, we need Nile back there, whether he can run or pass.”
The scheme was makeshift, at best.
“We put in a 39-play series this week from scratch,” he added. “That’s suicide for a coaching staff in one week, but our kids pulled it off.”
Morton made a 32-yard field goal (his first in high school) and running back Pete McSwain also had a solid game, rushing for 41 yards and making three catches for 31.
After a poor Valiants punt in the first quarter, the Eagles quickly took their 7-0 lead with a 10-yard pass from Nile Knapp to Farmer that went off the fingertips of two Valwood defenders. Then in the second quarter, Nile scrambled right and from 35 yards out and threw a ball just out of Valwood defender Deron Smith’s reach and into Morton’s hands for a 14-0 lead.
After the Valiants got on the scoreboard with a 2-yard scoring run by Adam Dye, Morton made his 32-yarder with seemingly plenty of room to spare.
“I just thought it was pretty much the game-winning field goal for me,” Morton said. “I did what I had to do.”
