Black Knights overcome shaky opening to dominate 5A Panthers
Lenoir City, Tenn. – After a month off, it naturally took a full quarter to knock off the rust.
Robbinsville (2-1) scored its first touchdown in four weeks early in the second quarter of Friday’s game in Lenoir City, Tenn., when Cuttler Adams burst through the defense and sprinted 28 yards to the end zone.
You could almost feel a collective sigh spread across the Black Knights’ sideline after Adams’ score and Cody Cline’s extra point cut the Panthers’ (1-5) lead to 13-7.
From there, it was all Robbinsville. The first quarter was soon forgotten, as four interceptions, six sacks and 362 offensive yards all led to a much-needed 35-19 win for the Knights.
“We started off rough, but it came together,” sophomore fullback Kage Williams said. “We had to start playing some tougher defense. We have some stuff to work on.”
Lenoir City relied heavily on its aerial game throughout the affair, striking twice in the first quarter on a pair of passes from Brett Cortez. Robbinsville limited the Panthers’ running game to a mere 10 yards and eventually started picking apart Cortez’s tosses.
Following Adams’ touchdown, Briley Tolbert intercepted a pass at the 45-yard line. Robbinsville promptly marched downfield and scored on a 5-yard pass from Dasan Gross to Isaac Wiggins. Cline’s extra point gave the Knights the lead, one they would not relinquish.
“We really had to step up and keep a good heart about us,” Cuttler Adams said. “We never gave up; that’s the biggest thing. That first touchdown helped, but Briley’s interception really boosted us.”
“Even though we had a touchdown, everybody was still kind of flat,” Brock Adams added. “But when Briley got the interception, everybody went crazy. It was comeback time.”
After Ben Wachacha dropped Cortez for a loss on the next Panthers drive, Donovan Carpenter picked off the frazzled quarterback at the 48. The Knights churned away before Adams pushed across the goal line on a 1-yard carry with 36 seconds left in the first half.
Both teams traded possession throughout the third quarter, unable to capitalize on turnovers, like Brock Adams reeling in the third Robbinsville interception of the evening late in the segment.
Lenoir City made things interesting once more with 7:53 left in the game, when Ayden Bennett scooped up a Knights fumble and ran it back from 79 yards out. However, a failed conversion – which would have tied the game at 21 – proved to be the Panthers’ last gasp.
Robbinsville struck twice more to pull away on a 6-yard pass from Gross to Eddie Brooms, then a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by Williams that finalized the inevitably of the outcome.