Friday Night Football Recap 9/9

Photos courtesy of Joe Hallquist

This week, Loveland took a trip up to Kings Mills to partake in one of the most important rivalries of the entire high school football season. A true rivalry that displays the ferocity of football in the 513.

The Knights started the game off hot, taking the first drive 81 yards, and capping it off with Will Kocher passing touchdown from 23 yards out, as he found Michael Mussari in the back corner of the end zone to start the game up 6-0. But the Tigers responded right away, taking advantage of their great field position set up by a Sawyer Muchmore (10) return and driving 56 yards down the field. The drive ended with a 2 yard touchdown from Colton Endicott (11), tying the game up at 6.

But the Knights’ offense wasn’t stopping anytime soon. On the next play, Jake Cameron took the kickoff 92 yards and just like that, the Knights took the lead right back, at 13-6.

For a couple of minutes, the game went back and forth, with both teams making little progress. However, the Knights’ offense just kept moving, as Kocher found Cameron for a 41 yard touchdown, where he evaded nearly the entire Loveland defense in one of the most ridiculous touchdowns Cincinnati has seen in all of Friday Night Lights so far this season. The Knights went up 20-6 and that's when their defense started to come alive.

The game kept its rivalry intensity, as it was still a back and forth type of game, but late in the second quarter, a Jake Svitovich (12) interception set up the Knights in the red zone. The Tigers defense held firm however, and on 4th and goal, an incomplete pass by Kocher gave the ball right back to the Tigers.

However, the Kings stout defense hauled in another interception, setting them up at the Tiger 10. On the very next play, Kocher found Michael Mussari for the second time, as the Knights started to pull away, extending their lead to score 27-6.

The Kings offense still could not be stopped. With 28 seconds left in the half, Kocher found Elijah Jones to make it 34-6 before the intermission, Kocher matched the record for most touchdown passes in the first half by a Kings quarterback

The Tigers would fight hard in the second half, but the Knights’ offense was just too much as the game ended with a scoreline of 55-12. Will Kocher finished with 284 yards and 5 touchdowns, continuing to be one of the most exciting players in Cincinnati. Jake Cameron had 5 catches for 89 yards and a receiving touchdown, as well as the 92 yard kick return touchdown.

The Tigers will host the Lebanon Warriors next week, a tough game for the Tigers. Lebanon has the best running back in the ECC in Braden Kay, so the Tiger defense will need to play a great game in the trenches if they want to mark a 1 in the win column.