By BRYAN GASKINS
For the Pharos-Tribune
— In what Northwestern coach John Hendryx called “one of the most physical high school games” he has seen in recent seasons, Lewis Cass fullback/linebacker Josh Knutson seemed right in his element.
Knutson ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Class 2A No. 10-ranked Kings to a 15-13 win, their 12th straight over their rivals.
“We didn’t want to be the senior class to lose the winning streak on Northwestern. And it feels pretty great to be 1-0 in the MIC,” Knutson said. “I’m just ecstatic right now.”
Northwestern bottled up Knutson in the first half, holding him to six yards on seven carries as the Tigers built a 6-2 halftime lead. Knutson followed with a workhorse effort in the second half — 99 yards on 20 carries.
“I give most of the credit to our linemen. They came out [in the second half] with their pads low, played fast and opened up some holes for me,” Knutson said.
The Kings’ line featured Tyler Neher at center, Grant Maxwell and Jack Farnham at the guard positions, 6-foot-6, 337-pound Jake Rouch at one tackle spot, Connor Adams and Brantley Seay splitting time at the other tackle spot and Brett Miller at tight end.
Cass improved to 2-1 overall ahead of its annual conference showdown against Hamilton Heights next week. The squads shared the league title last season.
“This was a big win,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “Northwestern is a good team. For us to beat them is a huge boost for us. Hopefully that is going to carry on to next week.”
The Tigers received the kickoff to start the second half, but the Kings forced them into a quick three-and-out. Cass followed with an eight-play drive that ended in a punt, then jumped on a Northwestern fumble on the next play from scrimmage. Cass followed with a four-play scoring drive that Knutson capped with an eight-yard TD run off a fullback toss.
After Northwestern went three-and-out again, Cass put together an 18-play, 60-yard scoring drive to take a 15-6 advantage at 4:47 of the fourth quarter. Knutson keyed the drive with 35 yards on 11 carries. He converted two fourth downs.
“I thought in the second half Knutson and the offensive linemen really dialed it up a notch,” Mannering said. “We had to drive the ball and they did a really nice job of doing that.”
Northwestern backup QB Trevor Richmond, filling in for an injured Tanner Martin, led the Tigers on a scoring drive to keep their hopes alive. Richmond completed 5 of 5 pass attempts for 43 yards. Abe Ridlen scored on a 1-yard TD plunge at 2:19 and Matt Marrah added the PAT to bring the Tigers within 15-13 at 2:06.
Cass quickly slammed the door shut. Austin Foreman recovered the Tigers’ on-side kick attempt and Knutson picked up a pair of first downs, allowing the Kings to run out the clock.
Cass enjoyed a 35-13 advantage in offensive plays in the second half.
“It’s like I told the kids, we played too much defense,” Hendryx said. “Their run game is brutal. That’s one of the most physical high school games I’ve seen for awhile, on both sides — they put it on us pretty good and I thought we put it on them pretty good. They just had the ball too much.”
The hard-fought second half came after a sloppy first half. The Kings lost three fumbles in the first half and the Tigers lost two. The Kings cracked the scoreboard on the first play of the second quarter when linebacker Jason Sheetz recorded a safety. The Tigers scored midway through the quarter when Kylan Dubbels had a catch-and-run touchdown covering 74 yards.
Dubbels’ TD marked the Tigers’ only first down until their fourth-quarter scoring drive.
“Defensively, we played tremendous. I think that was the best defense we’ve played in a while,” Mannering said. “Jason Sheetz, a senior linebacker, played [Friday], his first game. That was a big lift to us.”
Hendryx tipped his hat to the Kings’ defense.
“Up front, they did a heck of a job against our offensive line,” he noted. “We have to get better. We needed to see some things that we saw. I have no problem with our effort — I thought the kids played their hearts out. We just have to get a little better fundamentally up front.”
