Senior night at Tyler Consolidated was a perfect cool, crisp Friday evening for high school football. The Knights dallied with the Weir Red Riders throughout the first quarter, but soon took a dominant lead in the game, and capped off their season at 5-5 with the 40-10 win.

Weir was the first team to score on Friday as T.J. Howard ran one in from two yards out with 9:22 to go on the clock in the first quarter. The extra point kick gave the Weir fans some excitement as the Red Riders led the game, 7-0.

Within the next two minutes the Knights answered that score with one of their own as Jordan Smith connected with Boone Kehrer on a 47 yard pass for a touchdown. Spencer Kinnard’s kick tied the score at seven all.

Senior Nate Taylor made his first highlight of the night with a 50 yard run down field for a Knight touchdown. Blaise Rice’s extra point kick was waved off, but the home team had the lead, 13-7.

With 1:40 to play in the first, Justin Horstman kicked a field goal for Weir, putting their score at 10 on the scoreboard. Before the first quarter ticked away, Taylor took off on a 47 yard run, scoring six for Consolidated. The extra point conversion pass was no good, but the Knights had the lead at the end of one, 19-10.

In the second quarter, with 8:41 to go, Isaac Graham ran 40 yards down field for a Knight TD. Kinnard’s kick was good, extending the Silver and Black’s lead, 26-10.

It was Nate Taylor again with 1:10 to go in the first half on a spectacular 90 yard run for the Silver Knights. Rice’s kick centered the uprights to put the score at 33-10 headed to half time.

In the third quarter, Knight senior Erik Hartley, made some noise pulling down a 25 yard interception. Kinnard’s kick gave the Knights their last points of the game, finalizing the contest at 40-10.

Tyler Consolidated had 370 rushing yards on 44 carries and 115 passing yards for a total of 485 yards in the game. Weir had 53 rushing yards on 25 carries and 197 passing yards for a total of 250 yards.

The Knights were penalized nine times for 65 yards; the Red Riders were penalized 11 times for 85 yards and lost one of three fumbles.

Senior Nate Taylor was the leading rusher in the game, gaining 282 yards in the game (254 in the first half alone), on 26 carries. Isaac Graham rushed eight times for 68 yards; Hunter LeMasters had three carries for 10 yards; Jordan Smith carried the ball three times for five yards; and Dalton Parsons rushed twice for seven.

Smith completed six of nine passes for 115 yards with one interception. Weir quarterback Horstman completed six of 17 passes for 197 yards and was intercepted three times.

Boone Kehrer caught two Smith passes for 63 yards; Brodie Northcraft caught two passes for 31 yards; Corey Lowe had a catch for 15 yards; and Graham caught one pass for six.

Defensively for the Silver: Erik Hartley had seven tackles and one assist in the contest, sacked the Weir quarterback once and intercepted a pass for a TD. Brandon Grimes was credited with six tackles and three assists and caused a fumble; Boone Kehrer had five tackles and three assists; Corey Lowe, four tackles, one assist; Cody Barker, four tackles, one assist, covered a fumble and sacked the quarterback; Nate Taylor, three tackles; Brody Northcraft, three tackles and three interceptions; Evan Cline, two tackles, one assist; Ethan Arbogast, two tackles one assist; James Jones, two tackles: J.D. Pratt assisted on a tackle.

On the year: Nate Taylor finished his senior year as the leading rusher and point getter at Tyler Consolidated as well as one of the top rushers in the state with 203 carries for 1,788 yards and 23 rushing touchdowns. He has caught 15 passes for a total of 395 yards and five reception TD’s. Taylor has scored a total of 168 points during the 2009 season.

Isaac Graham has rushed 47 times for the Silver Knights this season, gaining a total of 295 yards. He has caught seven passes for 68 yards and has scored three rushing touchdowns.

Jordan Smith, Knight quarterback, has completed 81 of 141 passes for 1,287 yards and has been intercepted 11 times over the course of the year.

Leading receivers on the year are Boone Kehrer who caught seven passes this season for 385 yards and three touchdowns; Corey Lowe with 17 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns; and Brody Northcraft with 17 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns.

The Knights recognized the 10 senior members of the football team in a short ceremony before the game: Nate Taylor, Erik Hartley, Trevor Vossen, Spencer Kinnard, Brody Northcraft, Cody Barker, J.D. Pratt, James Jones, Brandon Grimes, and Ethan Arbogast.

The team will return several underclassmen next year with experience in hopes of prolonging the 2010 season past the 10 regular season games.