Knights defense rises to the challenge in opening round win

The West Holmes defense rose to the challenge of the coaching staff at halftime of their opening round playoff game against fourth-seeded Unioto Friday in Chillicothe.

Coach Keaton Leppla challenged his players to be more aggressive and to get physical with the Shermans who had their way against the Knights in the first half, scoring each time they had the ball as the teams were even at 21-apiece at intermission.

“Denensively, we got our physicality matched,” Leppla said. “We had to be more physical and establish the line of scrimmage and be way more aggressive. We took their best punch, and it was time for us to deliver our punch.”

West Holmes pitched a shutout against Unioto in the second half, fending off a pair of drives by the Shermans in the red zone in the final minutes of the game, intercepting a pass in the end zone, only to turn it back over on the return.

That set up Unioto with a first down at the West Holmes 14 with 2:06 to play in the game, but the defense of the Knights stiffened again.

A sack by sophopmore Zachary Hustack and a pass break up by Chance Jackson secured the win for West Holmes.

Brock Gallion, seen here in action against Holy Name, had a big night on offense against Unioto. Gallion scored on a 58-yard touchdown pass, and defensively came up with a pair of interceptions, one that set up the game-winning score in the Knights’ 28-21 triumph in the opening round of the playoffs.

It was an interception and 49-yard return by Brock Gallion to the Unioto one-yard line that set up the ultimate game-winning touchdown early in the third quarter. Brody Bowman took in it for the score from a yard out.

Unioto quarterback Isaac Coy had completed all nine of his first-half passes for 124 yards before misfiring on his first two passes of the second half. He finished the game 15-of-25 for 142 yards and two…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/knights-defense-rises-challenge-opening-190521274.html

Author : The Daily Record

Publish date : 2024-11-05 19:05:21

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