JEFFERSON TWP — Cody Milsom and his Knoch football teammates took all of the math out of the equation when it came to earning a playoff berth.

They did their job by holding Yough to 159 yards of total offense in a 44-0 Greater Allegheny Conference win at Knoch Stadium.

Other teams around the WPIAL did the rest to help Knoch secure the Class AAA Wild Card. Ringgold beat Trinity 49-14 in a Big Nine Conference matchup to move the Knights in.

“We're reborn again. This could have been our last week,” Milsom said. “Every week is a gift from here on out.”

Knoch finished in a tie for fifth place with Gateway (4-5, 4-4), but were bumped to sixth due to an 8-7 loss to the Gators Sept. 19.

Knoch coach Mike King wasn't sure if they were in, but felt some relief.

“I would like to hear that from the WPIAL committee,” King said. “We were trying to stand there and figure it out. It feels good to have breathing room for once.”

Milsom intercepted two passes, rushed for 143 yards and scored three times to lead Knoch (4-5, 4-4) to win the win.

Yough (0-9, 0-8) was shutout for the third time this season. On the Cougars' first drive, they used a 40-yard pass from Eric Baer to Jordan Bryan to move to the Knoch 24.

On third-and-eight, Milsom intercepted a pass to kill the drive. The Cougars threw three interceptions.

“Our kids played hard, they've played hard all year and never quit despite tremendous adversity,” Yough coach Mark Crovack said. “I'm proud of how hard we played all year.”

After Knoch went three-and-out, the Knights pinned Yough deep with a long punt. Knoch then stacked up Clay Waldron in the endzone for a safety to take a 2-0 lead with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first. On the ensuing possession, the Knights cashed in with 2-yard touchdown run by Milsom.

Addis Crouch and Mac Christy caught touchdown passes from Cole Shinsky to extend the Knights lead to 23-0 at halftime.

Knoch's 44 points scored was a season-high.

“We've had some struggles offensively, defensively we've always been strong,” Milsom said. “It's nice to see us come out here and score some points.”

Ben Lowery capped the scoring with a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Knights got after the passer. Ty Gornick had two sacks and Sam Whalen had one.

Yough got closest to scoring after blocking a punt and recovering it at the Knights' 6-yard line with less than a minute left.

“Our defensive line has been solid all year,” King said. “I'm glad our JV's kept them out of the endzone. Our defense earned that shutout tonight.”

The Knights had to sweat it out, but they are in the playoffs.

“It feels wonderful,” Gornick said. “I'm glad because last year we didn't make the playoffs.”