HOWARD — The East Knox Bulldogs found the win column on their home turf for the first time this seeason with an upset victory over Loudonville.
From capitalizing on turnovers to getting the air attack humming early, the Bulldogs never lost the lead as they once again rang the bell in Howard after a 27-12 win.
“It was a huge win for us in the sense that we had finished last year on a four-game losing streak and started this year on a three-game losing streak,” Coach Andy Beatty said.
“So tonight, not everything went our way, but the way the boys bounced back was huge, because that’s a really good Loudonville football team.”
For Coach Ed Honabarger and his Redbirds, it’s back to the drawing board and time to regroup for next week.
“We didn’t show up, did not show up,” Honabarger said. “When you have five turnovers in the first half, you’re not going to win the game.”
“We are a run-the-football team and play-action passing, so when you get behind like that you eat up clock. We didn’t have a chance to get into the offensive flow because of all our turnovers.”
How the Bulldogs grounded the ‘Birds
Rush Beatty got things rolling for the Bulldogs on the first drive after he recovered a fumble. Senior quarterback Jaxon Lester then threw a dart from around midfield to junior receiver Dakota Cooper for the first touchdown of the night.
Loudonville fumbled a punt to set up the next score. Lester fired another touchdown pass from the midfield area, this time to sophomore Rush Beatty for a 14-0 bulge.
The Bulldogs managed to recover the ball after a third consecutive onside kick, which led to a touchdown pass from Lester to junior Logan Clark. However, a missed extra point left it 20-0 Bulldogs to close the first quarter.
The Redbirds answered with a big play on a jet sweep, three gritty runs and a Braylon Kauffman touchdown. That made it 20-6 Bulldogs after a failed two-point conversion.
East Knox got the scoring going again in the second half as Lester went back to Clark through the air for the duo’s second touchdown, and a 27-6 East Knox advantage heading to the final period.
Despite recovering a fumble in East Knox territory and getting a late touchdown, the Redbirds came up short.
