UNION TWP — Knoch football coach Mike King knows the winless Gateway team that will travel to Jefferson Township next week will be desperate to win.

That's why King used the Knights' non-conference game against Ringgold Friday as a chance to rest some of his linemen.

Knoch lost 20-12 at Joe Montana Stadium, but accomplished its goal. Finding young potential and getting veterans rest. Sophomore Zach Curry played left guard and Mark Kroneberg played right tackle.

Curry played in place of Mark Beacom, who had shoulder trouble and Kroneberg played for Ty Gornick. Gornick still played on defense.

Sophomore Jordan Geist also saw an increased role on offense.

“We learned a lot more about ourselves tonight then we did last week,” King said. “Those kids are growing up real fast and we're going to need that. That's important.”

Gateway, which is in the Greater Allegheny Conference with the Knights, lost 37-13 to Hampton and is 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference. The Gators need to start getting wins to get in the postseason hunt.

Curry didn't overthink his first varsity start.

“I wasn't thinking about much,” Curry said. “There's a guy in front of me, go hit him. I wanted to do the best I could.”

Knoch (2-1) picked up 302 yards of total offense, including 161 through the air.

The Knights' problem was finishing drives.

Six of Knoch's possessions ened with turnovers on the Rams' side of the field.

Four times Knoch turned it over on downs, the other two came when the Knights lost fumbles.

“We were bend, but not break,” Ringgold coach Nick Milchovich said. “We were able to make plays. It wasn't like it was a magic defense.”

Knoch's first fumble allowed Ringgold (2-1) to get ahead.

Taking over at the Knights 47-yard line, Ringgold capped an 8-play drive with 8 minutes, 39 seconds left before halftime with a 1-yard touchdown run by Chacar Berry.

Berry rushed for a game-high 104 yards on 23 carries.

Knoch quarterback Dan Farinelli cut the lead to 7-6 on the next drive, scoring on a 9-yard run.

Farinelli rushed for 23 yards and passed for 161. Moving outside the pocket provided Farinelli with more space.

“I found my holes because I've been going over film with coach (Dominick) Girardi and my grandpap, finding escape routes on this defense,” Farinelli said. “I took the advantage of it and got some good yards today.”

Berry gave Ringgold a 14-6 halftime lead when he scored on a 4-yard run with 51.1 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Rams went ahead 20-6 when quarterback Nic Law threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jake Briscoe with 1:42 left in the third.

Farinelli threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Asa Adams, who had a team-high 80 yards receiving, with 5:35 remaining.

Knoch couldn't get the ball back as the Rams were able to run out the clock.

Farinelli was pleased with how the line played.

“Our first two drives it didn't work out as well,” Farinelli said. “Once we got things moving, we were able to capitalize on a lot of things. They were able to push back that big Ringgold line. They did a good job.”