For two teams that had dominated it’s opponents offensively, the Varsity Football game between the Middletown High School Knights and the Westminster High School Owls had taken on an unusual feel as of the third quarter.
Both teams had scored just 30 points between the two of them with the Knights up 16-14. The Owls had just converted a drive filled with offensive execution including a 20 yard touchdown pass from WHS seniors Duke Etchison to Ryan Hursey.
One could assume that the spark that was needed would come from an offense that had scored 552 points over 14 games a year ago.
But unlike the teams of past, the Knights failed to do anything offensively and were left stumbling while Westminster had the ball and was not only going for the lead but to thrust a proverbial dagger into a depleted Knights team.
They found the spark though in the form of a defensive end that had never recorded a tackle in his career with varsity and was just looking to make a statement.
Middletown senior Nick Yancey put pressure on Etchinson, while the Owls were deep in their end zone on two straight plays forcing the Owls quarterback to half to throw away the ball both times.
That was the spark that the Knights defense they needed as their stingy play on defense late in the game, including 2 interceptions by Knights senior Mitch Sgrignoli helped the Knights escape the not-so-friendly confines of Ruby Field with a 19-14 victory over the Owls.
The game started off as a rather slow affair offensively, with both teams almost feeling each other out, like a boxer would do with his opponent before trying to land the main punches.
On the defensive side of the ball, fists were flying in the beginning of the game, with Middletown senior Bradley Rinehart picking off a pass by Etchinson on the Owls third play from scrimmage.
“It was a momentum boost, really. Obviously they had success passing on us,” said Rinehart about his interception with 6:36 left in the first quarter. “There was a lot of fight in this dog, I guess you could say.”
The Knights had a chance to gain some momentum after the interception but ended up having their drive stalled because of penalties.
The Knights drew first blood in the game with 3:10 left in the first quarter. After a sack by Knights senior Ricky Leonard and two incomplete passes shut down an Owls drive, the Knights took over in favorable field position at the Westminster 46 yard line.
After a drive in which the Knights offense inched the ball forward, Middletown junior Nick Welch, picked up where his brother left off, kicking a 33 yard field goal to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
That would be it for the scoring in the first quarter, although the Owls had already started a drive that would lead to a score in the second quarter.
Westminster would end up with the ball at mid-field and would end up using an aerial display to dissect the Middletown, with the score coming on a 33 yard touchdown pass from Etchinson to Owls senior Shawn Johnson.
The rest of the second quarter was all Knights as two beautiful punts from Middletown senior Ben Panther trapped the Owls, deep in their territory essentially stalling the drive then and there.
Two good returns by Sgrignoli led to the Knights being put in good field position, with both drives being capped off with Bradley Rinehart rushing touchdowns, coming from three and six yards respectively.
The Owls would have a chance to strike back taking the ball back down to the Knight’s 1 yard line but that would be as far as the drive would go, with an offensive pass interference call and a turnover on downs resulting in the Knights heading to the locker room with a 16-7 lead.
The Knights would receive the kickoff to start the second quarter but after a quick three and out gave the ball back up to the Owls who promptly marched the ball down the field in 2:29 for a touchdown pass from Etchison to Owls junior Ryan Hursey from 25 yards after.
A Justin Cohen extra point made the game 16-14 Middletown, and left the Knights needing a spark.
That was where Yancey with his play that turned out to be more of a momentum boost then anything.
“Coach Ridenour made an excellent play call and it really helped us out because there offensive line was starting to beat each other up and yelling at each other,” said Yancey.
“(Seeing them frustrated) was what really set us off for that big stop. It was a huge swing of momentum.”
After both offenses being shut down until midway through the fourth quarter, a punt from deep in the Owls end zone led to good field position for the Knights which led to a 32 yard field goal for Welch, giving the Knights a 19-14 lead.
That would be all the Knights would need to wrap up a win but not after some late game drama occurred.
An interception in the end zone by Sgrignoli after a long Westminster drive led to the Knights trying to run the clock down.
With Westminster down to only one timeout, Rinehart ran for a gain of 7, and staying in bounds causing the clock to run. The clock though was stopped in the press box and was incorrectly reset from 1:22 which it should have been put on back to 1:30 after an attempt by the press box to fix the time.
This was all made null and void when a pass by Etchison was intercepted by Knights senior Tim Pirrone in the end zone with time expiring, to give the Knights their 23rd win in a row.
In a game that appeared to be a clash of styles, the Knights prevailed with the difference in styles showing up clearly in the box score.
The Knights passed for only 42 yards while the Etchison of the Owls passed for 345 yards. On the opposite side of that the Knights ran for 227 yards with Rinehart leading the way with 122. The Owls on the other hand ran for -16 yards with their leading rusher being Etchison for 2.
When asked if there was any temptation to try to out pass the Owls, Leonard strongly stated that, “That’s Middletown Football. We’re going to smash you in the mouth and we are going to do it over and over again. We are going to run it down your throat every single play. That’s not what I try to do, that is what I do.”
The real difference in the game came from passing the ball as the Knights had no turnovers to the Owls three, with all three of the Owls turnovers being interceptions by Middletown.
Next up for the Knights will be a trip back to Carroll County in six days to take on a Winters Mill team that has struggled over the past couple years with multiple coaching changes and lost to a very bad Tuscarora team in Week 1.
