Match report: Knights Juniors record back-to-back wins
Game One: Northants Knights 14-2 Leicester Falcons
The Knights Juniors’ first taste of competitive league football was sadly overshadowed by unfortunate injuries.
In what was a great start to the team's season the Knights travelled to Ipswich to take on the tough Leicester Falcons in the BAFA U19 Division 2 Midlands.
Northants started driving down the field early and tough runs from Nick Moses gained plenty of yards without finding the end zone.
On the other side of the ball, the Knights defence were making plays all over the field and continually shutting Leicester out.
The first score of the game came as quarterback Danny Hudson threw a beautifully weighted pass to newly signed wide receiver William Wright, who caught it in the corner of the end zone for Northants to take the lead 6-0 and failing to convert the XP.
It was here that the first injury of the game occurred, and starting quarterback Hudson had to sit out for a couple drives, forcing back-up quarterback and defensive captain Josh Haynes to lead the offense.
With the defense forcing Falcons to 4-and-outs the makeshift offense stepped onto the field, and did not miss a beat. Josh Haynes made a darting run aided by a wonderful block from wide receiver Will Carter and doubled the lead to 12-0.
Northants were unable to tag on the XP but the defense were all over the Falcons and tackled them inside their own end zone for a safety, making it 14-0.
Half-time came and early in the second half, disaster struck as team captain and starting running back Nick Moses suffered a horrific lower leg injury which meant the game was stopped for 20 minutes as medical personnel treated him before leading him off to the local A&E department.
The offense never really got going again after the injury but the Knights defense made some great stops with multiple passes defended by cornerback Ethan Thorneycroft and defensive ends Kiitan Babatunde-Jimoh and Will Heath both making plays in the Leicester backfield to secure the defensive shutout.
Falcons got on the scoreboard late on in the game when the Knights offense was backed up to their own goal line and were tackled for a loss resulting in a two-point safety.
The game came to an end with the Knights taking a 14-2 victory with touchdowns from William Wright, Josh Haynes and a two-point safety from the defense.
Game Two: Ipswich Cardinals 0-26 Northants Knights
After a short break and a chance to hydrate, the Knights stepped back onto the field to play against the 2019 D2 Finalist, Ipswich Cardinals.
Northants defense picked up right where they left off against Leicester Falcons and put in another dominant display, forcing another defensive shut out.
Led by linebacker Sam Wincott, who finished the game with four total tackles (1.5 tackles for loss) they only allowed Ipswich one first down all game.
The first points of the game came on the Cardinals opening drive when William Wright, who was filling in for an injured cornerback, pounced upon a forced fumble by Sam Wincott and returned the ball seven yards into the end zone for the touchdown.
A beautiful moment came as Wright celebrated by holding up the number seven in the end zone for his team mate, Nick Moses who was earlier rushed to hospital. From the two yard line, Moses' replacement, Luke Brotherton, pounded the ball up the middle and tagged on the XP to make it 7-0 to the Knights.
With more injuries mounting up, and a change of defensive scheme, Offensive lineman Kwaku Owusu was moved to play on the defensive line and on 3rd and 12 made a huge tackle on the Cardinals running back to stop the momentum.
With the Knights offense back on the field it was Offensive captain and Wide receiver Jonah Stacey-Smith who took a handoff on the end around and got six yards to convert on a 3rd and 5, however the drive fizzled out but it wasn’t long before they got the ball back.
Luke Brotherton, affectionately known as “El Freaky” within the Knights camp, began to grind out yards on the ground with a huge 23 yard run, followed later in the drive by a 20 yard touchdown run. El Freaky then proved exactly why he has the nickname on the XP conversion, shrugging off a tackle in the backfield before double juking two would-be defenders and walking it into the end zone to the amazement of the Northants Knights spectators. 14-0 Knights at the half.
Despite the scoreline, Ipswich Cardinals and their support were still vocal and on a huge second down play despite cheers of “You don't know what you're doing” to quarterback Danny Hudson he diagnosed a blitz at the line of scrimmage and made a beautiful pass to Ben Perry on a slant pattern for a gain of seven yards. On the resulting play Luke Brotherton again ripped off a huge run for 33 yards to set the Knights up at the two yard line.
The offensive line of Liam Docherty, William Donaldson and Kwaku Owusu were dominant all game and Brotherton ran it behind them again to get his second score of the game and make it 20-0 after failing to convert the XP.
As the game was beginning to close out the Knights defense were determined to hold on to the shut out, and good tackles from Tyrese Kassim along with Talfryn Lewis meant Ipswich were forced into a 4th and long.
In desperation mode the Cardinals quarterback threw a pass to his wide receiver that was jumped on by free safety Josh Haynes who returned it 38 yards to the house for a pick six and to leave the final score at 26-0.
