In a high scoring affair at Grafton on Friday, the Silver Knights of Tyler Consolidated kept within the range of the win, but wound up falling at the hands of the Bearcats, 42-32.

The Knights were the first team on the scoreboard with 9:36 left in the first quarter as senior running back Nate Taylor scored on an 18 yard run. Though the extra point kick failed, the Knights led the game, 7-0. Grafton took the lead with 5:55 left in the first when Mike Richards rushed eight yards for the TD, followed by the extra point kick.

Taylor again made the highlights for the Knights on a 55 yard run down the field to the goal line, taking back the lead in the hard fought battle. Again, the kick was no good, but the Silver and Black led the game, 12-7.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Grafton scored three more times in the last three-and-a-half minutes of the game to take the lead at the end of the first quarter, 21-12.

At the topside of the second quarter, Tyler Consolidated quarterback Jordan Smith hoisted a 30 yarder to Nate Taylor for a touchdown. The Knights tried to cap off their score by running in two points, but were turned back. The home team capitalized on a couple of key plays, scoring twice before the first half ended, leaving the score still in their favor, 35-18.

A contest of the defensive lines in the third quarter had neither team scoring in the first eight minutes of the second half. Finally, Grafton’s Griffin ran in a short two yarder for six points, followed by the kick, answered by the Knights Taylor on a 17 yard run. Blaise Rice’s kick was good putting the score 42-25 at the completion of the third quarter.

Again, both defenses held their own in the game for the majority of the fourth quarter until Knight quarterback Jordan Smith went airborne and connected with Taylor on a 72 yard pass to score for Tyler Consolidated. Spencer Kinnard centered the uprights with the extra point kick. Unfortunately, with only 40 seconds remaining on the clock, there was little the visitors could do to get the ball back, and the Knights suffered their third loss of the season.

“We didn’t play well in the first half,” said Silver Knight head coach, Rob Caldwell. “We waited to play catch up to late. Last year they ran the ball on us and we knew to be prepared for it this year, we just weren’t.”

“You can’t give up 30 points and expect to win. Plus, anytime we score 30 points in a game, we expect to win. We made to many mistakes both offensively and defensively.”

Grafton had 28 first downs in the game to Tyler Consolidated’s 10. The Bearcats rushed for a total of 539 yards and passed for 38 yards. Grafton fumbled once and was penalized 13 times for a deficit of 120 yards.

The Knights rushed 22 times in the game for a gain of 189 yards and passed for 200 giving them a total of 389 yards. The team lost one of two fumbles and were penalized six times for 52 yards.

Individually, Taylor led the Knights with 15 rushes for 165 yards. Corey Lowe caught five passes for 50 yards, and Taylor had two catches for 102 yards.

Mike Richards led the Bearcats rushing stats with 28 runs for 251 yards.

“The only good thing to come out of this game is the fact that Ravenswood will play us about the same way that Grafton did,” said the coach. “Both teams run a similar offence, and hopefully we learned something from last week.”

The Silver Knights will host Ravenswood on Friday at Knight Stadium. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.