By Jamey Lanier / Special to The Star
COLLINSVILLE — The Kingdom was rocking and heads were knocking as the West Lauderdale Knights thumped the New Hope Trojans 48-27 in front of a packed homecoming crowd Friday night.
The Knights offensive line, which was smaller than the New Hope defensive line, won the battle in the trenches for most of the night to pave the way for the win.
“We controlled the ball behind our offensive line tonight,” said Knight head coach Stan McCain. “Our guys seem to be smaller than the other team every week, but they find a way to get the job done."
The Knight defensive front also added a gallant effort against the speedy Trojans.
“We played well on the defensive line," McCain said. "We gave up a few big plays in the first half, but I thought we did a good job in the second half of shutting down the big play. New Hope has a good bunch, but it seems that’s how it is every week in this division.”
New Hope won the coin toss and deferred until the second half,which turned out to be a bad move as West scored on the first offensive play of the game on a halfback pass from Darius Wren to Darren Farmer that covered 66-yards. Micah McKee hit the PAT to put the Knights up 7-0 just 18 seconds into the game
West hit the scoreboard again five minutes later. Following a Trojan punt, the Knights put together a six-play drive covering 62-yards that ended when quarterback Nate Hodges found Farmer wide open along the sideline for a 22-yard scoring toss. McKee was perfect on the point after to run the score to 14-0 at the 7:33 mark in the opening frame.
New Hope cut the lead in half when speedster Josh Ferguson found an opening on the ensuing kickoff and raced 88-yards to paydirt. Tanner Ryals kicked the PAT to put the score at 14-7 with 7:13 left in the first quarter.
The defenses stiffened after that and both teams exchanged punts, before West Lauderdale took over the ball at their own 36-yard line and rode Wren and Farmer for a nine-play drive that also saw Hodges find Wren for a big completion after a Knight penalty to keep the drive alive.
Hodges capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge. McKee again was true on the PAT to give West a 21-7 lead with 8:19 remaining in the second period.
New Hope answered the Knights with a drive of their own that covered 80 yards in seven plays.
The Knights looked like the big play might be their demise after Trojan quarterback Zak Thrasher hit Quenton Shirley for 27-yards on the first play of the drive.
WL stopped New Hope for a 1-yard loss on the next play but Ferguson broke loose for 12 yards. West stopped the Trojans on the next play for a loss but Thrasher found Shirley again, this time for 41 yards to give New Hope a first-and-10 at the Knight 4-yard line.
Following a short Ferguson run, Thrasher snuck in from 1-yard out. The PAT edged the Trojans closer with a 21-14 score at the 5:09 mark in the second quarter.
West Lauderdale need just three plays to answer. After a Hodges to Jordan Lenton throw-and-catch covered 19 yards, Hodges found Farmer for a 42-yard scoring pass. McKee remained perfect on the night with his fourth PAT of the night to give West a 28-14 lead with 4:21 left in the half.
The Knight defense held New Hope to a three-and-out on it’s next possession and started the final drive of the half.
Hodges, Wren and Farmer led the Knights down the field, but the drive stalled after Hodges was dropped for a 7-yard loss.
McCain sent in the field goal unit with Hodges handling the long try, and the junior came thru with a 35-yard kick that split the uprights to end the half with West Lauderdale leading 31-14.
Ferguson kept the Trojans in the game when he took the opening kickoff, broke to the left and raced down the sideline for an 84-yard scoring jaunt.
Caleb Trussell broke thru to block the point after attempt, but New Hope had narrowed the Knight lead to 31-20 with just 13 seconds taken off the clock in the second half.
Hodges put the Knights on the board again in the third quarter when he connected on a 44-yard field goal to give West a 34-20 lead with 4:26 left in the third quarter.
West took advantage of a New Hope fumble on the ensuing kick when Farmer went in from 14-yards out to give the Knights a 41-20 lead after McKee’s PAT at the 3:31 mark in the third quarter.
West looked to put the game out of reach on the following Trojan drive when Wren intercepted a Thrasher pass but the Knights gave the ball right back on the next play when Joseph Grubb fumbled the ball at the West 25-yard line.
New Hope scored two plays later on a 23-yard run to narrow the gap to 41-27 with 11:52 left to play.
West Lauderdale closed out the scoring with 5:12 left in the game on a Farmer 9-yard run. The Knight defense stepped up and shut down New Hope to end the game at 48-27.
Farmer led the Knights with 120 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns on the night — two on the ground and two thru the air.
Wren chipped in 72 yards and had one touchdown pass.
Hodges completed nine of his 16 passes for 186 yards and a pair of TDs. He also ran one in and kicked two field goals.
West — 5-2 and 3-0 in Region 4-4A — returns to action next week when they travel to West Point for a big division tilt.
