Match report: Knights Juniors continue strong start
Northants Knights Under-19s continued their strong start to the campaign with convincing victories on the road against Black Country Vipers and Lincolnshire Bombers.
Knights made the journey to Stourbridge and started the day against a 1-0-0 Bombers team.
Knights ran away early and two touchdowns from Oli Thomas followed by QB Luke Brotherton scampering in for a score gave Knights a 21-0 lead at the half.
Lincoln started the second half with the football but it wasn’t long until the Knights defence turned the ball over and Khalil Ahmada, who was making his under-19 debut, punched it in for what would turn out to be our only play of the second half as Lincolnshire abruptly decided not to continue due to lack of numbers.
Game 1 final score: Knights 27-0 Bombers (Game called with 13 minutes of the second half remaining)
The second game of the day saw us take on a usual foe in the form of the home team, Black Country Vipers.
After shutting the run down early, the Knights' defence let their guard down and were beat deep for a touchdown to go behind for the first time this season. That shocked the team back into action and after Oli Thomas found the end zone for a touchdown and extra point to take the lead, the Knights defence took over the game.
Defensive end Will Heath beat his blocker to sack the opposition QB in the end zone for a 2 point safety and give the Knights offence the ball back.
Back-to-back rushing touchdowns for the departing Glenn Griggs as well as extra point catches from Finn Bates and Jonah Stacey-Smith saw Knights extend the lead.
The points continued to pile up in the second half as Glenn Griggs who was playing his final game before moving back to the states rushed in for another score, and two safeties - one for intentional grounding in the end zone, and one after a Kwaku Owusu tackle - saw the Vipers finally throw in the towel and ask for the game to be stopped.
Game 2 final score: Knights 35-6 Vipers (Game called with 7 minutes remaining in the second half)
The two wins means the Knights are 3-0-0 at the midway point of the season.
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