Knights run away from Vikings in 42-6 win

TABOR - Fast starts don’t come much faster.

Luke Madison returned the opening kickoff for a 72-yard touchdown 11 seconds into the game and Fremont-Mills scored touchdowns on both of ITS first quarter possessions on the way to a dominating 42-6 victory over Stanton in Eight-player football in Tabor Friday.

The Knights (1-1), coming off a close 26-25 loss to state ranked Cumberland-Anita-Messina in week one, didn’t waste any time jumping on the Vikings (0-1) to pick up their first win of the season and first career victory for new head coach Greg Ernster.

Ernster said it felt good to get that first “W” out of the way.

“It’s nothing for me, it’s all for the kids,” he said. “They came out tonight, after some things didn’t go our way last week, and it feels like we cleaned some things up and played a lot better.”

Madison’s touchdown was followed up by a pair of first quarter drives that couldn’t have been more different. The first came on an eight-play drive that included a huge fourth down pass from quarterback Taylor Reed to Paxten VanHouten and was capped by Reed’s three-yard scamper. The ensuing drive, coming after the Knights force a Viking punt, ended after just two runs, a 1 yarder and then a 74-yard touchdown run by Braxton Blackburn.

Other than its opening drive, which netted 32 of their 49 first half yards, Stanton struggled to contain the Knights’ physical offensive and defensive lines.

That physicality at the point of attack, on both sides of the ball, is how Ernster wants his team to play.

“That’s a testament to our kids,” he said. “They understand Fremont-Mills football is going to be as physical as we can be and we came out tonight, stuck to the game plan and were really physical.”

The Viking quarterback duo of Nolan Grebin and Josh Matin was harassed all night. They completed 17-of-29 passes for 131 yards and spent most of their drop backs running for their lives. The ran the 16 times for a net 19 yards. The Knight defense recorded six sacks in the game with Blackburn notching a career-high four in the win.

“We knew their offensive line was kind of a weak spot, but they had athletes, so we knew we had to get pressure in their quarterback’s face. They did some things to us we’re going to have clean up; they have athletes they can get into space and are tough to tackle.”

Fremont-Mills closed out second quarter with back-to-back, ground-and-pound drives and a safety by its defense to put the game into “mercy rule” running clock with three minutes to go I the half.

Reed spearheaded a Knight offense that finished 361 total yards, 294 of which came on the ground. Reed ran for three TDs and 69 yards while Blackburn tallied 100 yards and two TDs in five carries.

“I know he thinks he probably didn’t play particularly well but I thought he did,” Ernster said of Reed, his senior signal-caller. “We talked about being efficient in the passing game and we were efficient, and he took care of the ball and ran the ball well.”

The 36-point win was exactly the step forward Ernster hoped to see after last week’s tough 1-point loss.

“I told the boys we don’t want to be the best team in September, we want to be the best team in November,” he said. “We definitely got better, and I hope we haven’t peaked.”

The Knights host perennial power Audubon (1-2) Friday in Tabor.

“They’re 0-2 coming into tonight but they’re a historic program. They have a great coaching staff and a really great linebacker we have to figure out how to get our hands on. They have great pieces and they’ve played two tough teams in Winfield Mount Union and Southeast Warren, two good football teams. We’ll look at some film. They’re definitely a tough opponent.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Scoring Summary
FM 20  16  06  00  42
S     00  00  00  06  06

Game Summary
FM – Luke Madison, 72 kickoff return (kick no good).
FM – Taylor Reed, 3 run (conversion failed).
FM – Braxton Blackburn, 74 run (two-point conversion good).
FM – Blackburn, 17 run (two-point conversion good).
FM – Reed, 18 run (conversion failed).
FM – Safety.
FM – Reed, 1 run (conversion failed).
S – Nolan Grebin from Josh Martin, 25 pass (conversion failed).