In the last home game of the season, the Knights suffered a 22-0 loss against the Stone Mountain Pirates.

The Knights went into the game 5-3 looking to defeat a 2-6 Stone Mountain team after winning two games in a row against Druid Hills and Clarkston.

The Pirates came out strong, scoring on their second drive of the game after a promising march up the field, resulting in a 15 yard touchdown pass and a successful two-point conversion from their quarterback, Cameron Graves, with 4:52 to go in the first quarter.

After a promising punt return to the 35 yard line from Midtown’s Kentrell White, the Knights went three and out forcing a punt from kicker senior Roswell Bond. Stone Mountain started their next drive on their 35 yard line and made their way up to the Midtown third yard line after multiple first down completion runs and a 15 yard penalty against Midtown. The Pirates went up 17-0 with 0:50 seconds left in the first quarter after a three yard run into the end zone and another two-point conversion.

After returning the ball to the Knights 31 yard line, senior Jordan Taylor ran for a gain of nine yards before the first quarter ended. During the first play of the second quarter, Stone Mountain came up with an interception, running the ball back to Midtown’s 38 yard line. After a 13 yard quarterback run, Stone Mountain completed a 12 yard pass, positioning them in the red zone. The Knights went down 22-0 after another two-yard touchdown run from the Stone Mountain quarterback with 6:30 left in the second quarter.

The Knights went three and out on their next drive after a punt return to the 31 yard line from White, then prevented another Stone Mountain score to end the second quarter.

Bond acknowledged the team’s increase in energy after coming out of the locker room going into the second half.

“We started to gain some more momentum coming out of half time but our offense had some trouble getting drives together,” Bond said. “Our defense continued to play pretty well.”

The Knights held Stone Mountain, forcing a fumble with 8:01 left in the third quarter on the 33 yard line. The Knights went three and out then forced another Stone Mountain punt. The Pirates came up big with an interception with 4:02 left in the third quarter, leading to a big stop for the Midtown defense.

“Our defensive line has been showing out and mostly everyone is doing good as a unit,” Bond said. “Jude [Paulson], Harrison [Briggs] and Jordan [Taylor] really stepped up, especially with Jordans interception.”

The end of the fourth quarter slowed down with both defenses putting up a scoreless second half. Briggs, although frustrated with the loss, recognizes the team aspect of winning and losing.

“This is a team loss so you can’t put the blame on any single one person,” Briggs said. “We did struggle with the offense getting going and as a result we couldn’t get points on the board, but this is overall a team loss.”