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How Knoch offense found its footing in Week 2 win over North Catholic: ‘It was a battle’

JEFFERSON TWP — The only difference between a Knight and a Trojan is 11 points.

Even after more than an hour lightning delay, Knoch football and North Catholic kept the sparks going well into the evening, and shortly after 10 p.m., the Knights defeated the Trojans 28-17 in nonconference action.

The game “had it all” Knoch head coach Tim Burchett said, with big plays, a lightning delay and injuries.

“It was a battle,” Burchett said. “That’s a good win, and we will take it and move on.”

Early in the third quarter, Trojan Cole Meier went down on a kickoff return for North Catholic (0-2), which required him to be helped off the field on a stretcher and quickly put in an ambulance with what North Catholic head coach Chris Rizzo described as a “lower body injury.”

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Knoch's Colt Sprankle celebrates a touchdown during a football game against North Catholic at Knoch High School on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

“We don’t know exactly what he has yet,” Rizzo said. “He’s going to spend the night in the hospital, but he is going to be ok.”

North Catholic took the early lead in the first quarter, off a 65-yard drive that resulted in a Dylan Shantz field goal, but the drive was stalled not because of the Knoch (1-1) defense, but because of four pre-snap penalties.

“We are getting things adjusted a little bit,” Rizzo said. “We have no one to look at but ourselves. You can blame it on youth all you want, but that is stuff we got to get taken care of in practice.”

On the following drive, Knoch was able to march down the field and take the lead off a Colt Sprankle 28-yard touchdown run.

Knoch's Codi Mullen celebrates his second touchdown during a football game against North Catholic at Knoch High School on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

The Knights never gave the lead back, and their first score was followed up with a Codi Mullen 2-yard run for a touchdown in the middle of the second quarter.

Mullen has been transitioning into a wide receiver and running back role after leading the Knights last year at quarterback, and Burchett is pleased with how he has taken on his new responsibilities.

“You put (Mullen) anywhere and he adapts to anything,” Burchett said. “That’s what he does every week, every day. We should expect the unexpected with him.”

Both teams wasted no time scoring after the delay, which started with a Christian Naylor 5-yard touchdown run on the first play after the delay.

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Knoch's Kody Schubert tackles a North Catholic ball carrier during a football game at Knoch High School on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

On the first play of the following drive for the Knights, Knoch quarterback Colt Sprankle launched a pass up for Mullen, who took the ball 80 yards for the touchdown.

The Knoch defense came up with two interceptions in the second half, which killed two potentially productive drives by the Trojans.

The running game then followed suit, and Knoch was able to secure its first win of the season.

“Sam Skurka deserves the ball,” Burchett said. “He earned carries and he got them. It’s all about what the defense gives you and what we are willing to take.”

North Catholic 3 7 7 0 – 17

Knoch 7 14 7 0 - 28

First Quarter

NC – Dylan Shantz 23 field goal, 7:27

K – Colt Sprankle 28 run (Kannon Trofimuk kick), 4:18

Second Quarter

K – Codi Mullen 2 run (Trofimuk kick), 5:13

NC – Christian Naylor 5 run (Shantz kick), 1:04

K – Codi Mullen 80 pass from Sprankle (Trofimuk kick), :40

Third Quarter

K – Mullen 4 run (Trofimuk kick), 6:11

NC – Tom Arth 15 pass from Joey Felitsky (Shantz kick), 2:53

Individual Statistics

Rushing: North Catholic, Joey Felitsky, 8-44, Christian Naylor 8-25. Knoch, Colt Sprankle 9-57, Sam Skurka 15-95, Ethan Rouleau 1-5, Codi Mullen 6-35.

Passing: North Catholic, Joey Felitsky 25-42-263-2. Knoch, Colt Sprankle 10-15-178-0.

Receiving: North Catholic, Will Washiewicz 4-26, Jack White 5-87, Joe Safer 2-40, Tom Arth 6-54, Ryker Kennedy 5-30, Christian Naylor 3-26. Knoch, Sam Skurka 3-33, Codi Mullen 3-82, Kaden Spencer 3-48, Brody Bauman 1-15.

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected at 4:30 Sept. 7 to correct the spelling of Sam Skurka’s name.

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