Knights rout Panthers at Clay, 49-22

Tyler Consolidated’s Silver Knights traveled to Clay County on Friday to take on the winless Panther’s, coming home with the 49-22 win. The win put the Knights at 4-5 on the season thus far with one more game yet to play in the regular season.
The Silver and Black held Clay scoreless in the first half of the game while putting 30 points on their side of the scoreboard.
Knight quarterback Jordan Smith hit one of his favorite targets, Nate Taylor, with a 54 yard pass to open up the scoring frenzy for the visitors. Spencer Kinnard’s extra point kick was good, putting the Knights in the lead 7-0 with more than 10 minutes yet to play in the game.
With 5:53 to go, Smith connected on a 33 yard pass to his next favorite target, Boone Kehrer for the touchdown. Junior Blaise Rice centered the uprights for the extra point.
Taylor scored again for the Silver in the first, this time on a 33 yard run with a minute to go. Kinnard’s well placed kick put the Knights in the lead 21-0.
In the second quarter, Isaac Graham trotted 20 yards down the field for the next Knight TD, followed by Rice’s extra point kick.
With 1:23 to play in the second, Tyler Consolidated collected two more points on a safety, putting the Knights well ahead of the Panthers, 30-0 going into the half.
“We played a good first half,” said Knight head coach Rob Caldwell. “But they came out in the third and starting putting points on the scoreboard, and we had to tighten up. I mean, we didn’t want to give away the win after being ahead by so much, and stranger things have happened.”
Clay County was able to put some points on the scoreboard in the third quarter with about 9:08 on the clock with a 20 yard pass for the touchdown and the extra point conversion pass. Before the quarter ended though, Taylor ran in another six-pointer for the Knights. The extra point kick by Kinnard was good.
The Panthers opened up the fourth quarter with a six yard touchdown pass, but failed to click on the extra point. Not to be denied or outdone, seconds later Taylor scored again on a 31 yard run. Rice’s kick was off, but the Knights still held a determined lead.With 8:27 to play in the game, the Knights Corey Lowe scooted into the end zone on a one yard run for the visitors last score of the game, because Kinnard’s kick was deemed no good.
Clay County added one more score on a 64 yard run, and made good on the extra point pass, but it was too little – too late as they ended their season without a single win with the 49-22 loss to the Silver Knights.
“We got the win, it was a good game,”Caldwell said. “All the kids got in, and it’s always a good scenario when that happens.”
Tyler Consolidated gained 241 rushing yards on 40 carries and collected 244 passing yards for a grand total of 485 yards in the game. Clay County rushed 25 times for 137 yards and had 119 passing yards for a total of 345 yards.
The Knights were penalized nine times costing them 73 yards and lost three of four fumbles. The Panthers chalked up seven penalties for 44 and-a-half yards and lost two of three fumbles.
Senior Knight, Nate Taylor, led all ball carriers in the game getting 167 yards on 21 carries, and had three rushing touchdowns. Isaac Graham rushed four times to collect 49 yards and had one rushing TD; Hunter LeMasters had four carries for 10 yards; Kyle Jones ran the ball once for 20 yards; and Corey Lowe had two rushes for five yards.
Knight quarterback Jordan Smith connected on 11 of 16 passes in the contest for 244 yards and was intercepted twice.
Receivers catching the ball for Smith included Taylor pulling down three passes for 102 yards, one for a touchdown; Boone Kehrer catching three passes for 81 yards and a TD; Brody Northcraft, four passes for 58 yards; and Kyle Jones bringing in one pass for three yards.
Defensively for the Silver, Brandon Grimes had nine tackles, and one sack of Clay’s quarterback; Ethan Arbogast had six tackles and one assist; Boone Kehrer had four tackles; Cody Barker had four tackles, two assists and one interception; Erik Hartley had three tackles and two assists.
Corey Lowe had three tackles and three assists; Kyle Jones had two tackles and a quarterback sack; James Jones had two tackles; Brody Northcraft had two tackles, one assist; Evan Cline had one tackle; Nate Taylor had one tackle and intercepted a pass; Drew Casey and Hunter Lemasters each had one tackle apiece; and Isaiah Casennelli and Dalton Parsons each had an interception in the game.
Thus far this season, Taylor leads all Knight rushers with 1506 official rushing yards and has scored 20 rushing touchdowns.
Smith has completed 75 of 132 passes for 1172 yards. Taylor has also caught 15 passes for 395 yards, scoring on five of those. Boone Kehrer has caught six passes for 322 yards and scored two touchdowns on catches.
The Silver Knights have one game yet to play in their regular season with hopes of ending up at 5-5 on the year. Consolidated will host the Red Riders of Weir on Friday at home.
The Red Riders come to Knight Country with a single win under their belts, but coach Caldwell is quick to remind his players that Weir is coming to win the game.
“They’re a very aggressive football team, and they play one heck of a schedule,” he said. We don’t need to get it into our heads that this is going to be a cake walk, because it isn’t. Most of the teams who have beaten them are playoff bound, so they’re looking for a win the hard way. We have to be ready.”
Senior members of the team will be recognized in pre-game ceremonies which will begin at about7 p.m.