JEFFERSON TWP — For every positive move Knoch made, South Park countered.

The Knights eventually succumbed in the second half as the Eagles snapped a 14-14 tie by scoring 23 consecutive points on the way to a 37-20 victory in a WPIAL Class 3A football playoff game Friday night at Knoch Stadium.

The contest marked Knoch’s first home playoff game since 2011.

“This moment was too big for us,” Knoch coach Tim Burchett said. “We made mistakes tonight we haven’t made all year. They capitalized on them quickly. When that happens, it’s like a stiff upercut to the chin.

“It’s hard to bounce back from that.”

It was tough to stop Eagles junior running back Etric Doerue as well. He carried 25 times for 159 yards and four touchdowns as 12th-seeded South Park (7-4) won the game without completing a pass all night.

“We’re built to run the football,” South Park coach Brian Abbey said. “Our offensive line is solid and Eric, Zach Ludwig (quarterback) and A.J. D’Agostino are veteran backs. They did the job tonight.”

After eating the first nine minutes off the clock with a 14-play dribe, South Park was stopped on downs at the Knoch 16. But less than three minutes later, Doerue got loose for a 54-yard touchdown run and the first points of the game.

No. 5 seed Knoch (8-3) answered with a 10-play, 54-yard drive of its own. Codi Mullen found Ethan Alwine for a 25-yard pass connection on 4th-and-7 to set up Alwine’s 2-yard scoring run. The PAT was blocked and the Knights still trailed.

An 81-yard kickoff return by D’Agostino set up Doerue’s 5-yard TD run moments later. The Knights drove to South Park’s 5-yard line late in the half, but Mullen’s fourth-down pass was batted down by Jack Depra and the Eagles had a 14-6 lead at intermission.

“The team with the fewest mistakes won tonight,” Burchett said. “But we had five turnovers ... All due respect to SouthPark, but we don’t know if the better team won tonight.”

The Knights got even on the first possession of the second half. Jackson Bauman caught an 18-yard TD pass and Mullen’s conversion pass to Kaden Spencer evened the score at 14.

That’s when mistyakes began taking a toll on Knoch.

The Knights forced a punt, but yullen lost the handle on the ball during the return and Jake Arbuckle recovered the fumble for the Eagles. D’Agostino scored on a 19-yard run on 4th-and-5 moments later.

Kenyan Brown intercepted a pass and returned it 52 yards to the Knoch 23, setting up Kaden Kostelnik’s 34-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Kostelnik intercepted a pass and returned it 35 yards to Knoch’s 4. Doerue scored his third touchdown of the night from there and it was 31-14 with 11:39 to play. Doerue’s final touchdown was an 18-yard burst after Knoch gave South Park a short field by turning the ball over on downs at its own 34.

Mullen wound up throwing for 235 yards and a pair of TDs, the last being a 9-yard toss to Brady Pflugh in the final moments of the game, capping an 83-yard drive.

“I love all of these guys,” Mullen said of his team. “I can’t wait to get back out here next year. We hit the weight room hard over the winter because we wanted to play meaningul football after Halloween. We got a taste of that.

“We lost the section title game. Now we lost this one. That’s only going to makes us more hungry.”

Abbey said his team “will remember this night forever because it’s so hard to win a football playoff game. We had a few years where we missed the playoffs and last year was our first (playoff) game in a while. We made a lot of mistakes.

“Knoch was in that situation tonight. We told our kids to make them give the game to you. We capitalized on mistakes. That was the difference.”

South Park 7 7 10 13 — 37

Knoch 0 6 8 6 — 20

First Quarter

SP — Eric Doerue 54 run (Kaden Kostelnik kick), :03

Second Quarter

K — Ethan Alwine 2 run (kick blocked), 9:00

SP — Doerue 5 run (Kostelnik kick), 7:56

Third Quarter

K — Jackson Bauman 18 pass from Codi Mullen (Kaden Spencer pass from Mullen), 9:18

SP — A.J. D’Agostino 18 run (Kastelnik kick), 4:47

SP — Kostelnik 34 field goal, :38

Fourth Quarter

SP — Doerue 4 run (Kostelnik kick), 11:39

SP — Doerue 18 run (kick blocked), 7:44

K — Brady Pflugh 8 pass from Mullen (pass failed), 1:18

Individual Statistics

Rushing: South Park, Eric Doerue 25-159, Zach Ludwig 6-45, A.J. D’Agostino 6-25. Knoch, Codi Mullen 12-37, Ethan Alwine 10-30, Brady Pflugh 1-2.

Passing: South Park, Zach Ludwig 1-4-0-1. Knoch, Codi Mullen 21-40-235-2.

Receiving: South Park, A.J. D’Agostino 1-0. Knoch, Jackson Bauman 7-90, Kaden Spencer 4-44, Ethan Alwine 4-42, Keaton Oprosky 3-39, Brady Pflugh 2-14, Sam Skurka 1-6.