KENNEDY TWP — Lou Cerro was waiting for his offense to break out.

Montour‘s head football coach watched his team win its first two games by scoring a combined 38 points. He knew his Spartans were capable of more.

In Friday’s non-conference football game against Knoch, Montour gained yards in bunches. Quarterback Trey Hopper passed for 435 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 completions as the host Spartans dismantled the Knights 44-14 at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium.

“We didn’t play our best last week against Trinity (a 14-7 win) and pushed the kids a little harder in practice,” Cerro said. “It was good to see us get going on offense tonight.”

Three of Hopper’s scoring passes totaled 209 yards — 70 to Daniel Batch, 73 to James Bundridge and 66 to AJ Alston.

Related Article: PIAA high school football Week 4: Scores, updates, photos and more from around Butler County Related Article: Friday Night Sights: See the photos from Week 4’s Butler County high school football games

The long connection with Batch opened the scoring late in the first quarter. Makai Noah-Born blocked the point-after attempt, and the Knights (1-2) responded with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended when Colt Sprankle hit Kaden Spencer for a 24-yard score.

Kannon Trofimuk added the extra point and the Knights led 7-6 with less than a minute to play in the opening period.

It was the high-water mark for Knoch, however. By halftime, the Knights trailed 23-7 and Sprankle was out of the game with an undisclosed injury. He did not return.

“It was precautionary,” Knoch coach Tim Burchett said of Sprankle’s absence in the second half.

The Knights’ defense seemed to have the advantage several times in the first two quarters, only to have the Spartans break their backs by converting.

Spencer, Ben Martin and Noah-Born combined for three sacks that left Montour in long-yardage situations. But they picked up a first down on a third-and-22 and scored touchdowns on another third-and-22 and a fourth-and-9.

“You give up big plays like that all three times and somebody upstairs must not like you,” Burchett said. “Montour did nothing we didn’t expect. We were in position to make plays. Montour is a measuring stick, and we needed to make plays against Division I-caliber athletes and it didn’t happen.”

Cerro said Knoch’s defensive line “changed some things up that caused us to have some trouble with our protection. But those big plays helped us take back momentum.”

Related Article: Moniteau vs Central Clarion football game canceled due to health concerns

Codi Mullen, Knoch’s all-time leading passer, took over for Sprankle late in the first half. Early in the third quarter, he passed 20 yards to Ethan Rouleau, who turned the completion into a 74-yard touchdown that cut Montour’s lead to 30-14. The Spartans (3-0) scored the game’s final two touchdowns.

Alston paced Montour’s receivers with seven catches for 188 yards. Batch tallied 129 yards on just two receptions.

Knoch’s ground game was completely shut down. Daniel Simons, who carried the ball three times in the fourth quarter, led the Knights with 11 yards rushing.

Knoch plays another non-conference game next Friday at New Castle.

Knoch 7 0 7 0 — 14

Montour 6 17 21 0 — 44

First Quarter

M — Daniel Batch 70 pass from Trey Hopper (kick blocked), 2:54

K — Kaden Spencer 24 pass from Colt Sprankle (Kannon Trofimuk kick), :51

Second Quarter

M — Batch 19 run (Brayden Davin kick), 11:55

M — AJ Alston 25 pass from Hopper (Davin kick), 7:13

M — Davin 26 field goal, :13

Third Quarter

M — James Bundridge 73 pass from Hopper (Davin kick), 9:11

K — Ethan Rouleau 74 pass from Codi Mullen (Trofimuk kick), 8:53

M — Alston 66 pass from Hopper (Davin kick), 8:31

M — Caden Halajcio 4 run (Davin kick), 2:06

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Knoch, Colt Sprankle 3-(-12), Sam Skurka 7-(-2), Codi Mullen 5-9, Ethan Rouleau 3-6, Daniel Simons 3-11, Brody Bauman 1-(-2). Montour, Trey Hopper 6-(-17), Caden Halajcio 20-108, AJ Alston 1-12, Daniel Batch 2-25, Brandon Bennett 7-38, Luca Nuovo 9-52, Marcus Battles 1-5.

Passing: Knoch, Colt Sprankle 7-12-87-0, Codi Mullen 3-11-94-1, Brody Bauman 0-1-0-0. Montour, Trey Hopper 13-21-435-0.

Receiving: Knoch, Kaden Spencer 3-47, Wyatt Fraser 1-9, Codi Mullen 2-36, Keaton Oprosky 1-5, Sam Skurka 1-(-1), Ethan Rouleau 2-85. Montour, AJ Alston 7-188, Marcus Battles 3-45, Daniel Batch 2-129, James Bundridge 1-73.