Knights unable to overcome Bears, 41-21
It was a rainy and cold night on Oct. 9 that only got colder as the Silver Knights of Tyler Consolidated were handed their fifth loss of the season by the Oak Glen Golden Bears, 41-21, at Oak Glen.
As promised, defense was the name of the game in the first quarter as the two teams played to a scoreless deadlock until Oak Glen quarterback Seth Barnhart threw an 18 yard pass to Dylan Davis with 9:18 to play for the first score of the night. The point after was good, giving the Bears the 7-0 lead.
The Knights were quick to answer that score with one of their own when at 8:15 to go, Consolidated quarterback, Jordan Smith, ran the ball in one yard for the touchdown. Spencer Kinnard’s kick tied the score at seven-all.
Oak Glen would score twice more in the first quarter to put the score at 21-7 at the break.
In the second quarter, the Golden Bears lost little time in adding to their side of the scoreboard with a another pass to Davis, followed by the extra point.
With 8:24 left in the first half, the Knights changed things up a bit, by having running back Nate Taylor throw a 24 yard pass to Smith for the TD. Blaize Rice kicked the ball through the uprights for the extra point, but the Knights still trailed in the game, 27-14, heading to the locker room for half time.
Tyler Consolidated and Nate Taylor opened up the third quarter with a 60 yard run for six points. Kinnard’s kick put the visiting team within reach of their hosts, 27-21. But Oak Glen answered that score just a few minutes later.
The hosts would score once more in the fourth quarter to take the win, 35-21.
The win moved Oak Glen’s season record to 4-3, while the Knights dropped to 1-5.
“We had some big opportunities both offensively and defensively, we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” said Rob Caldwell, head coach of the team. “But we didn’t give up, our kids just kept on and kept on trying different tactics.”
“Sometimes you just have to get a break, and you have to keep trying to make breaks for yourself, and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Statistically, the teams were pretty even on paper: The Silver Knights achieved 15 first downs in the game while the Golden Bears had 16. Tyler Consolidated was penalized six times costing them 50 yards and Oak Glen had six penalties for 41 yards.
The Silver Knights gained 213 yards on 34 carries and had 123 passing yards for a total of 336 yards in the contest. The Bears had 321 yards on 47 rushes and 181 passing yards for a total of 502 yards in the game.
Consolidated fumbled the ball three times and lost it once.
Senior running back Nate Taylor led all Knight rushers in the game with 218 yards on 24 carries. Jordan Smith carried the ball five times for eight yards; Isaac Graham had four rushes for three yards.
Chance Rowland was the leading rusher for OG, carrying the ball 35 times for 232 yards.
Taylor also led the Knights in pass receptions with three for 51 yards. Boone Kehrer had two catches for 28 yards; Eric Hartley had two catches for 23; Corey Lowe caught two passes for nine yards; Jordan Smith had one TD catch of 24 yards; and Slade Dillon had one catch for 12 yards.
Defensively, the Knights racked up some numbers: Boone Kehrer had nine tackles and three solo tackles in the game; Ethan Arbogast had eight tackles; Brandon Grimes was credited with six tackles, one solo tackle, sacked the quarterback once and blocked a kick; Erik Hartley, four tackles and blocked two kicks; Brandon Loy, four tackles; Cody Barker, three tackles; James Jones had four tackles; Evan Cline, three tackles; Nate Taylor, three tackles, one solo; Corey Lowe, three tackles, one solo; Isaac Graham, three tackles, one solo; Brody Northcraft, two tackles; Trevor Vossen, two tackles; Isiah Casenelli, one solo tackle; and Kyle Jones, one tackle.
On Friday the Silver Knights will host 4-3 Braxton County at home. The Eagles are looking to add to their season record in hopes of making the playoffs at the end of the season.
Homecoming festivities will be held at Knight Stadium at halftime. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.