Big-play Knights rout Dekaney, 63-35; advance to regional finals | Home
WACO – The dream season for the Harker Heights Knights is alive and effectively.
In their greatest offense of the season, the Knights defeated the Spring Dekaney Wildcats 63-35 Friday evening at Baylor’s McLane Stadium in Waco.
As the second half of the season progressed, the Knights’ offense grew to become extra explosive, as evidenced by lengthy landing runs and passes on Friday evening.
“Our offensive staff and our coach (Dan) Pike did a great job of figuring out what works best for us,” head coach Jerry Edwards mentioned after the sport.
It was a one-two on the ground for the Knights on Friday evening.
Between star operating again Re’Shaun Sanford and his counterpart Aimeer Washington, the Knights rushed for 278 yards. The two totaled seven of the Knights’ 9 touchdowns.
“These two guys have put a lot into this program and they want the program to be successful,” Edwards mentioned of Sanford and Washington.
Sanford opened the scoring simply 17 seconds into the sport.
Sanford, the Harker Heights go-to-back, took a handoff from quarterback Dylan Plake, discovered a gap, and broke up an 81-yard landing run untouched.
Jai’den Fletcher received the additional level and gave the Knights a 7-0 lead.
It did not take lengthy for the Wildcats to reply.
On the following drive, the Wildcats rushed 75 yards in eight video games and gained giant chunks of the yards operating again Brandon Joseph.
Joseph finally ended the drive with a four-yard landing run. The additional level tied the sport at 7 halfway by means of the opening quarter.
For many of the remainder of the primary half, Washington was the premier again for the Knights because the Wildcats contained Sanford after his opening rating.
However, Washington made the Wildcats pay.
With a 14-7 lead, Washington took a display screen move from Plake, juketed a defender and located himself in open area with nothing however inexperienced turf in entrance of him.
Washington took the display screen move 64 yards into the top zone.
“The team needed a first down,” Washington mentioned of the sport. “I happened to be the person who went up in that position and made the first descent. And I met by accident.”
Washington’s outcome got here in second and 15 after Plake was fired by Dekaney’s Keshawn Williams for a five-yard loss within the earlier recreation.
On the following drive for the Knights, Washington broke free once more, this time utilizing his energy. On the fourth and one, Edwards known as Washington’s quantity. He broke the road and had apparent first-down yardage, however shook himself out of a deal with and took it 21 yards for a objective to give the Knights a 20-point benefit late within the first half.
Towards the top of the sport, Washington put an exclamation mark on victory. In an identical fourth-and-1 scenario, Washington once more took over the handoff and shook off the tacklers en route to a 50-yard landing 3-11 within the recreation.
Washington completed with 103 dashing yards on 13 carries.
His efficiency proved essential as Sanford tried to acquire footing in opposition to the Dekaney protection after his 81-yard rush early within the recreation.
Finally, Sanford known as off a long term early within the third quarter.
After stepping in to Dekaney early within the second half, the protection made a direct impression as senior defenseman Marcus Moultrie intercepted Wildcat quarterback Rechuuk Hines close to midfield.
It was Moutrie’s first of two interceptions within the recreation.
“He just threw the first one straight to me,” Moultrie mentioned of his interceptions. “I think (the receiver) did a dissolve and (Hines) just threw it at me.”
Moultrie completed off a drive from Dekaney later within the recreation with a 56-29 lead for Heights.
“The second (the receiver) ran a slope and the tight end ran a go route. He made the ball float and I just ran fast enough to get under it,” Moultrie said.
Deaubry Hood also had an interception in the first quarter.
On the first play after Moultrie’s first pick, Sanford broke for a 31-yard touchdown run to give the Knights a 42-7 advantage.
“My running back coach told me to just be consistent, even at halftime,” Sanford said. “I can’t get down on myself, can’t get down on the line.
“We need each other; we walk away from each other. We walk as each other walks.”
Sanford scored his third rushing touchdown of the game at a critical juncture in the contest. After giving up three touchdowns in the third quarter, the Knights saw their lead shrink to 20 points (49-29).
After a crucial third-down conversion from Plake to Rocky Crooks for 20 yards on third-and-3, Sanford scored on a 39-yard rush and ended the Wildcat’s 15 unanswered points.
Going 49-14 on quick hits from both teams early in the second half, the Wildcats went on for 15 points in quick succession, with the final points of the run being a 27-yard punt block return for a touchdown by Dekaney’s Christian Nwuso .
“In the second half we didn’t come back with as much momentum as we should have,” Moultrie said of Dekaney’s 22-point quarter.
However, Sanford seemed unaffected by the change in momentum.
“They’ve gained a bit of momentum, but that’s okay,” Sanford said. “We know we will fight to the end. If we just bring that in, we will take away their hope; That has been the theme for the past two weeks and has only robbed the teams of hope.”
Before defeating Dekaney, the Knights had crushed Mansfield 26-2 and Royse City 38-17.
To finish the Wildcat’s hopes, the Knights used all their offensive weapons in Friday’s win.
Complementing the operating backs, Plake threw for 4 touchdowns and 275 yards on 9 of 12 passes.
“Our team is starting to grow well together,” mentioned Edwards. “Re’s getting a good feel for the offensive line, Aimeer is getting the blocks, and Dylan is making great reads. Dylan has been spot on for the last four or five games and our receivers have gotten it.”
Plake’s first touchdown came at the end of the game’s second drive for the Knights.
On the drive, Plake found Alexander Bailey in the end zone over a defender’s outstretched arms and gave the Knights a 14-7 lead.
Plake kept the six-game 77-yard drive alive a few games back.
In third place in steady rain, the shotgun rolled at the feet of Plake, who picked it up and found Tyler Johnson, who put it 47 yards to the Decaney side of the field on the catch-and-run. A rough-the-passer penalty on the Wildcats pushed the ball into the red zone.
Plake executed another quick shot after a first-half punt by Dekaney.
After a 2-yard loss from Sanford, Plake fell behind and found Johnson on a bike route outside, floating a pass over the defense for a 62-yard touchdown.
On the subsequent point-after-try, Sanford scored 2 points to make it 35-7 in favor of the Knights.
Plake found Sanford later in the third quarter with a 32-yard touchdown pass before Dekaney’s strike.
Plake, Sanford and company will not turn their attention to the regional semifinals.
With the win, Harker Heights will face the DeSoto Eagles next week at McLane Stadium. The Eagles are a well-known opponent, knocking the Knights out of the playoffs 65-28 a year ago.
DeSoto will enter the game after beating Tomball 38-14 on Friday night.
“We simply have to deal with ourselves,” Edwards said. “We must have a great training week from Monday to Thursday.
“We’re playing against a top-class football team that we played against last year. (They have) playmakers all over the field. They do an extremely good job of coaching and preparing them, so we have to do that too.”
The date and time for the matchup with DeSoto is yet to be determined.
HARKER HEIGHTS 63, SPRING DEKANEY 35
Spring Decaney 7 0 22 6 – 35
Harker Heights 14 21 14 14 – 63
HH – Re’Shaun Sanford 81 run (Jai’den Fletcher Kick)
SD – Brandon Joseph 4 run (Anthony Moreno Kick)
HH – Alexander Bailey 18 Pass by Dylan Plake (Fletcher Kick)
HH – Aimeer Washington 64 Pass from Plake (Fletcher Kick)
HH – Run Washington 21 (Kick Missed)
HH – Tyler Johnson 62 Pass from Plake (Sanford Run)
HH – Run Sanford 31 (Fletcher Kick)
SD – Jonah Wilson 55 Pass by Rechuuk Hines (Moreno Kick)
HH – Sanford 32 Pass from Plake (Fletcher Kick)
SD – Run from Joseph 2 (Da’Shawn Bradley to Markie Grant)
SD – Christian Nwuso 27 Punt Block Return (Moreno Kick)
HH – Run Sanford 39 (Fletcher Kick)
HH – Washington 50 Run (Fletcher Kick)
SD – Wilson 16 pass by Hines (game)
TEAM STATISTICS
SD HH
First downs 16 8
Rush Yards 32-182 36-278
Drive-by yards 187 275
Comp. Att. Int. 16-32-3 9-13-0
Punts average 4-39 2-22
Fumbles lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties 5-49 4-12
CUSTOM STATISTICS
RUSHING – Spring Dekaney, Brandon Joseph 23-151, Dominic Hamilton 4-10, Rechuuk Hines 1-10, Dylan Jones 2-5, Da’Shawn Bradley 1-3. Harker Heights, Sanford 18-201, Aimeer Washington 13-103, Plake 5-(minus) 26.
OVER – Spring Dekaney, Rechuuk Hines 15-31-3-184, Bradley 1-1-0-3. Harker Heights, Plake 9-12-0-275, Rocky Crooks 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – Spring Dekaney, Jonah Wilson 7-145, Bradley 5-19, Nick Townsend 1-9, Tanook Hines 1-6, Marcus Monroe 1-5, Jones 1-3. Harker Heights, Tyler Johnson 3-119, Crooks 3-42, Washington 1-64, Sanford 1-32, Alexander Bailey 1-18.
