Top Dogs: East Knox pounds Northmor, earns statement win

IBERIA – All East Knox needed was a reason to believe.

A reason to think that, after two straight years of disappointing late-season losses, tonight would be different.

Against Northmor on Friday night, Bulldog fans quickly found their reason.

Just moments after the PA announcer declared the grandeur of such a matchup – both teams came in 5-0, tied for first in the KMAC – there went Caleb Gallwitz, on the second play from scrimmage, galloping up the sideline like a horse unhitched.

The East Knox running back took off up the left side, then juked his way back to the right, traversing freely into the end zone, 57 yards unbothered.

His teammates sprinted down the field with their hands in the air. The visiting stands rumbled, then shook as the play progressed. Assistant coach Andy Beatty, normally a calming force on the sideline, began galloping with Gallwitz as he ran. He became so excited that his headset nearly fell off, and his hands trembled as he fought to keep it on.

Yes. YES. YES!!! Beatty boomed as Gallwitz raced down the field. He was as shocked as anyone.

When Gallwitz reached paydirt 56 seconds into the game, he wasn’t just breaking free from tacklers – he was allowing his team, his hometown, to break free from the mental barriers that come with repeated heartbreak.

East Knox went 15-5 the last two seasons, but those five losses – four against teams with winning records – kept the Bulldogs out of the playoffs each time. When losses like that begin to pile up, it becomes harder to believe. It takes something big – a first-round knockout punch, a lead-off home run – to allow oneself to say, Oh my gosh, we’re actually doing it.

That play – maybe not the run heard ‘round the world, but at least the run heard ‘round the region – did just that.

“That was huge. Because I’ll be honest, I didn’t see that coming,” East Knox head coach Cody Reese said afterwards. “High school football is such a game of momentum, and that definitely swung the momentum and our boys were able to hold onto it the rest of the game.”

Gallwitz took off, and the rest was history. East Knox pounded Northmor on Friday, 41-0, improving to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The Bulldogs will host Centerburg (4-2, 2-1 KMAC) next week in another monster conference matchup.

But for now, Bulldog fans, why not enjoy this one?

The Bulldogs were marvelous in nearly every aspect, from the little things to the big things. Senior quarterback Kadden Lester operated with surgical precision, completing 18 of 22 passes for 130 yards. He threw to five different receivers, with the most popular being Gage Steinmetz, who caught seven passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Gallwitz added four more touchdowns to his already ridiculous season total – it’s up to 26 now – turning in 265 rushing and 19 receiving yards. The senior averaged 11 yards per carry on Friday, against a Northmor team that gave up just 106 rushing yards per game through the first half of the season.

And the East Knox defense, perhaps most impressively, handed Northmor its first regular-season shutout loss since 2012.

“Our d-line, they get after it,” junior linebacker Weston Melick said. “They free up our linebackers, and our corps of linebackers have an easy job with them doing their job.”

Coming into Friday night, this matchup had all the makings of a classic. Northmor was ranked first in Division VI Region 22, and East Knox was ranked fifth. The Golden Knights had already beaten local powers Lucas and Centerburg, albeit by a combined seven points. The Bulldogs had outscored their first five opponents 251-38, but they had yet to face a team with a winning record.

Northmor won this matchup last year, 15-14, in a game that went back and forth until the final play.

This year’s matchup, albeit with similar playoff and conference title race implications, didn’t deliver as Shakespearean an outcome. East Knox appeared to be fine with that.

“It’s nice to be able to come away with a win against them tonight,” Reese said. “Very proud of our boys and how they did that.”

The game came down to execution. East Knox established the run early with Gallwitz, who amassed 79 first-quarter yards behind his bruising offensive line. Then Lester began to hit Steinmetz and fellow senior Cade Leach with sideline passes, and the Bulldogs blocked well on the edge to give them room to run.

By stretching the field early and often, East Knox was able to keep Northmor’s defense guessing.

“The boys did a great job of blocking on the edge and in the box all night long,” Reese said. “When we can hit these perimeter passes, you’re able to stretch that defense out, and that helps with the short passing and with the run game.”

Defensively, East Knox held Northmor running back Wyatt Reader to just 60 yards on 15 carries. The senior came into Friday night’s game averaging 115 yards per game.

“We just played it like gap football,” Melick said. “I trusted my other 10 guys on the field and they did their job – make the reads and attack.”

Northmor quarterback Hunter Mariotti, a dual-threat star, appeared uncomfortable all night. He threw two interceptions – both in East Knox territory – and fumbled once at his own 38-yard-line. Mariotti faced constant pressure from the Bulldog defensive line, and even when he had time to throw, his receivers were rarely open.

“We were sloppy. We were sloppy offensively,” Northmor head coach Scott Armrose said. “We put ourselves in bad situations, we put our defense in bad situations. We’ve gotta do a better job of taking care of the football, getting rid of the football, making good decisions with the football.”

After two defensive stops to start the game, East Knox scored again early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs capped off a 13-play, 79-yard drive with a 12-yard Gallwitz touchdown run up the gut. This was followed by a score from Steinmetz, who caught the ball in the flat and beat his defenders up the sideline, scoring from 13 yards out after diving for the pylon.

The Bulldogs finished off the half with a two-minute drill. Lester led the Bulldogs 54 yards in 1:45, en route to a three-yard touchdown plunge by Melick, the team’s de facto fullback. Melick, the team’s kicker as well, knocked in six of seven extra points on Friday, which also happened to be his birthday.

The Bulldogs led 27-0 at the half.

If Northmor ever wanted to mount a comeback, it needed to start on the first drive of the second half. The Golden Knights came out with a renewed intensity; Mariotti quickly led the team into East Knox territory, making it to the Bulldog 30-yard-line in less than two minutes.

But what happened next would do the Knights in for good. Mariotti sailed a pass over the head of his intended target, and it instead landed in the eager hands of East Knox defensive back Braden Kannady. The Bulldog crowd once again came to life as Kannady raced down the sideline, making it all the way to midfield. East Knox would score four minutes later after a demoralizing 10-play drive, resulting in another Gallwitz touchdown.

“We told the boys, we can’t be happy at halftime,” Reese said. “The worst thing that could happen is they could come out and score. So it was nice to get the ball back and go down and punch one in. Very pleased with the effort and the focus and the discipline tonight from our players.”

This touchdown stretched the lead to 34-0, thereby forcing a running clock with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

Gallwitz scored again with 1:25 left in the stanza – a 69-yard touchdown sprint for good measure – to set the final score at 41-0.

While the fourth quarter was mostly handshakes and hugs for the visiting Bulldogs, it also contained the game’s scariest moment. East Knox freshman Carson Steinmetz collided head-on with a Northmor defender late in the quarter, leaving him motionless on the field.

Coaches and medics rushed out to attend to Steinmetz, who had just subbed into the game alongside other reserves. He was eventually lifted onto a stretcher and driven off in an ambulance; fans and players from both teams applauded nervously as he rode away.

Reese said afterwards that Steinmetz was conscious, talking and could move his limbs. He was taken away in a stretcher, Reese said, mainly as a precautionary measure.

“They think now that everything’s just precautionary,” Reese said. “They think he’ll be OK.”

WHAT’S NEXT: East Knox will return home next week to face a Centerburg team that’s one game back in the conference standings. The Trojans were tied for 10th in Division VI Region 22 heading into Friday night.

After falling to Northmor by a touchdown in Week 4, Centerburg has won its last two games by a combined 64 points. The Trojans have given up just two touchdowns over the last two weeks.

“Centerburg’s going to be ready for us. They’re a good team, they’re well-coached, they play extremely hard and they’re disciplined,” Reese said. “So that’s not going to be a short order at all; that’s going to be a tall order, and we’ve gotta be ready to go. And if we’re not, it’s not going to be good for us.”

If East Knox wins next week, it will be in the driver’s seat for the conference crown and a playoff spot. The team’s final three games are against Cardington, Mount Gilead and Danville, which currently have a combined record of 4-14.

Reese’s message to his Bulldogs after Friday night’s win? “Don’t take a rest,” Melick said.

“You’ve gotta climb that ladder and we’ve gotta take that next rung up, and that’s Centerburg,” he said. “They’re a great team and we’ve gotta prepare like we’ve never prepared before.”

Northmor, meanwhile, will hit the road next week to play county foe Cardington (1-5, 1-2). After beating Fredericktown to begin conference play, the Pirates have dropped two straight.

The Golden Knights will need to win out and hope East Knox loses one of its final four games to earn a share of the conference title. It’s not an impossible task; Northmor’s remaining schedule consists of the KMAC’s bottom four teams.

Still, Friday night’s loss left Armrose visibly perturbed, as he had little to say afterwards. The goal for next week will be simple, he said:

“Hopefully, we use this to motivate ourselves to be better.”

» East Knox 41 Northmor 0

» Centerburg 28 Mount Gilead 7

» Highland 42 Fredericktown 6

» Danville 24 Cardington 21