The football team is currently ranked fourth in Region 4-AAAA and have sights set on the playoffs with two regular season games remaining.
The Knights beat Pace 27-12 on Oct. 9 in a crucial win, bringing their region record to 3-2 overall record to 3-5, moving them up in the region rankings from fifth to fourth overtaking Maynard Jackson. Creekside currently leads the region undefeated, with M.L. King in second and Mays in third.
“I expected to beat Pace,” head coach Calvin Arnold said. “That moves us one step closer to where we want to be. We have to win a certain amount of games [to make the playoffs] so it’s definitely helping us.”
The game started with a 18-yard touchdown rush from junior Dorian Fox and a successful PAT from senior kicker Nick Kaledin, bringing the score to 7-0.
“We played with intensity,” Arnold said. “We came out making minimum mistakes. We had a good showing from the offense. The offense showed what we could do.”
The offensive line-up was shaken up during the week to both fill in injuries and improve performance.
“We had a change of pace at the quarterback position,” Arnold said. “Just wanted to see if it’ll give us a little spark, and it helped us out going forward. We had a guy that transferred in. He gave us a spark at running back, and we had to move [senior] Cam Austin to receive, to give a spot, because we had a man down.”
Pace took the lead 12-7 into the end of the third quarter, which was quickly responded to by senior Kentrell White, securing two touchdowns and bringing the Knights up to 21-12 in the middle of the fourth quarter.
“My best highlight was the 95 yard touchdown because I caught an audible,” White said. “That’s not the play we ran because the play we ran out was supposed to go differently. But I told people I wasn’t going that way.”
The Knights secured another touchdown after freshman Chauncey Bailey completed a 49-yard rush bringing the Knights to 27-12 in the last minute of the game.
“I think we had a good win,” White said. “We gotta stay locked in through the break next week, because we have to win one more game to be in the hunt for the playoffs.”
The Knights beat Pace in special teams as well, making few mistakes. Kaledin went 3/3 on PATs, while Pace missed both of their attempts.
“I played pretty good, I helped out on defense by forcing a fumble and making a few stops on crucial downs,” Kaledin said. “The team performed great, offense were able to execute plays and score many touchdowns, defense caused turnovers and made them punt which helped the offense quickly go back on the field.”
The team is now looking towards their last two regular season games, at Mays on Oct. 24 and Creekside on Oct. 31.
“I’m not looking past anybody, so we’ll take care of Mays first,” Arnold said. “Try to focus on Mays first and then we’ll say when we play Creekside, we’ll just let chips fall where they make what they are.”
Mays is ranked second in the region with a 3-1 record, but is a crucial win for the Knights to remain fourth in the region.
“During the break we will be preparing for Mays by studying their film, working out in the weight room and learning their formations in practice,” Kaledin said.
Arnold believes the team has a good chance in making the playoffs with their current region standings.
“I think we really have a good shot of making the playoffs,” Arnold said. “My goal is to make the playoffs. So I think we really have a good shot. We just have to take care of what we have to take care of first, and then we’ll go from there.”
