Knox Gets Home Win Over North Judson!

It is one of the oldest rivalries in the State of Indiana! The battle for Starke County supremacy in high school football was on the line at Community Field in Knox! The host Redskins were anything, but inviting to their cross-county rivals, as the Redskins topped the Bluejays 35-7.

It only took the Redskins a matter of seconds to get on the board, as senior Ja’Kobe Dickson returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for the first score of the game. Dickson only had seconds to catch his breath, as he is also the placekicker for the Redskins. The offseason training paid off, as Dickson was able to step in and boot the extra point through the uprights to give Knox a 7-0 lead. A lead they would never relinquish.

It was the performance by Knox quarterback Zac Rose that helped the Redskins create separation in the ballgame. Rose took advantage of having a 6’4 gazelle at one of the wide receiver positions, as Rose connected with Sophomore Kole McIntire on the next two scores for Knox. With 6:34 left in the first half, Rose was able to find McIntire in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown. Less than two minutes later, the duo would strike gold again, this time, after hauling in the pass, McIntire galloped 35 yards for his second touchdown of the quarter.

The Redskins were able to get the job done on the ground as well as they amassed 121 yards on 32 carries as a team. Payton Baugh led the rushing attack for Knox as he carried the ball 13 times for 69 yards and a two yard touchdown in the 4th quarter.

The Bluejays refused to go away, despite the final score. North Judson showed great determination as they spread the ball around on the offensive side, and were also able to force two turnovers by the Redskins. Offensively, the Jays were led in rushing by Cheyenne Allen, who earned at least a nap this weekend, as he carried the ball 19 times for the Jays, while accumulating 55 yards against a very stout Redskin defense. The Jays’ lone score of the ballgame, came with 2:10 left to go, as Trey Hampton threw a pinpoint pass to the corner of the end zone, where he found Owen Frasure for a 12-yard touchdown. Allen booted the extra point through to give the final score of 35-7. On defense, it was Nolan Shidler who provided a huge spark for North Judson as he was in on 10 tackles throughout the game, 9 of which were solo. Logan Brown made his presence known on the defensive side as well, as he was responsible for picking off the pass of Zac Rose, which appeared to be in the middle of a potential scoring drive for Knox.

In the end, the Redskins versatility on both sides of the ball proved to be too much from start to finish. In all, the Skins were able to gain 231 yards on 42 plays, while the Jays had 146 total yards on 48 plays. Knox quarterback Zac Rose was named the Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game on WKVI, as he went 6-10 passing for 110 yards with 2 touchdowns. He also accumulated 20 yards rushing on 8 attempts. One thing is for certain, based off of the amount of energy that was displayed on both sides of this Starke County rivalry, the fire is still burning as hot as ever. From the outside looking in, one would guess that this would be the last time we see a 28-point difference between these two varsity programs for a very long time!

*Statistical Information Provided by Knox Statistician Tim Knowlton