After defeating the Knoxville Panthers last year in 41-40 in overtime, the Panthers got their revenge on the Indians, besting them 58-7 Friday in Clarke’s first home game of the season.
Prior to the game, military, first responders, law enforcement and others were honored at the annual Hero’s Night event. Like last year’s Hero’s Night, the game ball was brought in via parachute, and Knoxville kicked off the ball to start the game.
Brock Nall returned the kick and made it to the 19-yard line where play began. The Indians worked their way downfield, but were ultimately stopped at Knoxville’s 48 where the punt team came out, kicking the ball where it was picked up by Knoxville’s Koby Higginbotham who returned it to near the 30 before being taken down.
Two short plays by Knoxville brought them closer, and a pass far downfield from quarterback Brenden Woolsey to Higginbotham found Knoxville with the first points of the game just shy of the nine-minute mark.
Clarke made three successful first down plays on their possession, but a pass from Ryan Diehl to a receiver was picked by Knoxville to turn the ball back over, with Knoxville getting another six on the board; the point after attempt was no good.
Clarke gained little yardage on their play before the ball had to be punted. Knoxville worked their way back down to the near the goal line, with a touchdown pass to Max Magana nearly batted away by Clarke defenders.
With less than 20 seconds left in the quarter, Uriah Fry returned the ball to near the 25, with the quarter ending in a short pass from Diehl to Fry.
The Indians continued to struggle against the Panther defense to open the second quarter, and Knoxville put 14 more on the board before a pass caught by Nall over the shoulder found him running for an 80-yard touchdown, avoiding a tackle along the way. A point after brought the score to 34-7.
Clarke managed to hold Knoxville at bay from scoring on a fourth and goal, but an interception on their next play ended in a touchdown for the Panthers, closing out the half 40-7.
In the third quarter, Knoxville quickly picked up another six, which brought the score gap to a 35-point difference to have a running clock. As the Indians tried to find yardage in search of the end-zone, Diehl had another pass intercepted that found the Panthers at 1 and 9 going into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers scored on their first play of the fourth quarter, and Clarke looked to score again but were unable before having to punt the ball away.
With just over a minute left on the clock, Knoxville scored their final touchdown of the night to end the game 58-7.
The loss to Knoxville brings the Indians’ season to 0-2. They are on the road this Friday at Des Moines Christian (1-1), whom they lost to last year 44-35. The game starts at 7 p.m.
Game stats
Knoxville 20-20-6-12
Clarke 0-7-0-0
Clarke individual stats
RUSHING
Ryan Diehl 3-10; Uriah Fry 5-4; Milad Ibraheem 3-5; Total 11-19.
PASSING
Diehl 9/23-179-1-2(I)
RECEIVING
Alec Wright 1-21; Fry 1-10; Brock Nall 6-143-1(TD); Ethan Danley 1-5; Total 9-179-1.
DEFENSE (total-solo-sacks-for loss)
Total 30.5-28-0.0-0.0
KICKING
Rafael Avalos 2-1-112
KICK RETURNS
Bryce Cook 1-13; Javier Munoz 1-16; Fry 3-44; Nall 4-81; Total 9-154.
PUNTING
Avalos 6-213
Knoxville team stats
RUSHING
15-62-2
PASSING
27/34-341-7
RECEIVING
27-341-7
DEFENSE
30.5-28-0.0-0.0
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
1
INTERCEPTIONS
2-37
KICKING
10-496
KICK RETURNS
1-5
PUNT RETURNS
3-60
PUNTING
2-87