CENTERBURG — The Trojans cleared once major obstacle, but two more await.
Fresh off last week’s thrilling 16-11 win over Danville, Centerburg will host Northmor in another key Knox Morrow Athletic Conference game Friday. The Trojans, who unofficially clinched a Division V, Region 19 playoff berth and took over sole possession in the chase for the KMAC title last week, will host rival Fredericktown in Week 10.
“The road this last couple weeks isn’t easy,” Centerburg coach Andy Colella said after Friday night’s win. “You’ve got another good one next week and the week after that, and so on and so forth.
“So it’s just taking it one step at a time — you know, regrouping here and learning from the miscues that we had, and just hitting the reset button.”
Northmor (5-3, 2-3) at Centerburg (7-1, 5-0): Not much went right for the Golden Knights in last week’s 36-9 loss to Mount Gilead. Northmor led 9-8 after the first quarter before surrendering 28 second-period points. Quarterback A.J. Bower completed 9-of-22 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Paul Cramer rushed for 65 yards on 15 attempts. Bower leads the KMAC with 1,458 passing yards, completing 104-of-189 attempts. Hunter Fulk has a team-high 32 receptions for 461 yards and six touchdowns and is one of four Golden Knights with two interceptions along with Carson Campbell, C.J. Stoney and Caleb Schnuerer. Charles Naylor has seven sacks for Northmor.
The Trojans scored the game-winning touchdown over Danville with just 29 seconds left as quarterback Tyler Johnson hooked up with Mason Turske on a 4-yard scoring strike. Johnson has completed 83-of-153 passes for 1,054 yards and a whopping 25 touchdowns. He also ranks second in the KMAC with 1,145 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 182 carries. Caylan LeMaster has rushed for 921 yards and eight TDs on 123 carries. Jesse Rings has a team-high 28 catches for 351 yards and three touchdowns and ranks second in the KMAC with four interceptions.
Mount Gilead (5-3, 3-2) at Danville (6-2, 4-1): Quarterback Matthew Bland rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns and Garrett George added 135 yards and two scores in Mount Gilead’s 36-9 win over Northmor last week. Bland and George both have rushed for 1,000 yards this fall. Bland has 1,035 yards and eight TDs on 156 carries, while George has 1,000 yards and 11 scores on 154 attempts. Bland has completed 37-of-80 passes for 712 yards and six touchdowns. Defensively, he has picked off three passes. Judah Reid leads the KMAC with 10.5 sacks, while Ben Whitt has 9.5 sacks.
Yards were hard to come by for Danville as both defenses took centerstage in last week’s showdown with Centerburg. Max Payne rushed for 67 yards in the loss, while Walker Weckesser had 51 yards on 12 carries. Danville’s lone touchdown came when Weckesser threw a 27-yard scoring toss to Payne in the second quarter. Payne also booted a 21-yard field goal to give the Blue Devils an 11-10 lead with 1:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. For the season, Weckesser has completed 69-of-114 passes for 730 yards and six touchdowns. Kaiden Colopy leads the KMAC with five interceptions while Jacob Hackman has a pair of picks. Levi Lyons ranks second in the KMAC with 81 tackles, including five tackles for loss. Ryan Lucas has 74 stops and nine TFLs. Payne is a weapon as a punter, averaging a whopping 45.5 yards on 26 punts.
