Hawks beat Lobos for first victory of season

PALMDALE — Knight head coach John Quam couldn’t help but have a smile on his face. The Hawks’ head coach was elated that his team was finally able to put things together. Earlier this season, Knight lost three games in a row by a touchdown and Quam said that was due to his team’s youth.

But the Hawks finally broke through. They played well in all three phases of the game and Quam and the Hawks earned their first victory of the season with a 34-8 victory over Littlerock, on Senior Night at Knight High School. “Whenever you get that first win, it’s very gratifying.



It helps the kids’ morale. They have been working so hard,” Quam said. “All league season we have played well in the second half.

Tonight, everybody contributed. It’s great to see all the hard work come about. They did what we’ve been preaching all year.

Hat’s off to my assistant coaches making sure the kids were ready.” On Knight’s opening possession of the game, following a punt by the Lobos, it used a six-play, 65-yard drive which was capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by Demarcus Foster Banks giving the Hawks (1-8, 1-5) a 7-0 lead. Later in the first quarter, Littlerock (1-8, 0-6) was forced to punt again.

Knight’s Jason Merino took the short punt on the run and returned it 72 yards up his own sideline for the touchdown and a 13-0 lead. Merino also had a 76-yard interception return in the fourth quarter, which was the icing on the cake for the Hawks to perserve the victory. “It feels good (to get this first win),” Merino said.

“I just think it took us a little long. But, overall, I thought we played well. This gives us momentum moving forward.

We have a fire now, we have to keep it burning. We must keep practicing hard to finish the season and hold each other accountable.” The Lobos got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when quarterback Ryan Morris connected with Geovanni Nuñez for a 67-yard touchdown hookup.

Following the 2-point conversion, Littlerock trailed 15-8. But the Hawks extended their lead right before halftime. The workhorse Mykel Jenkins scampered 48 yards all the way to the 3-yard line, which set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Jenkins.

Knight led 21-8 entering the locker room. “We played our hearts out,” Jenkins said. “We did what we had to do on defense, and we have to just keep pushing forward.

It feels good. We just started too late this season. We should’ve had one since the AV game.

But we’ll do the same thing next week. Win or lose we have always kept our heads up all season.” Jenkins finished with 141 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.

He had 98 yards rushing in the first half. “We shot ourselves in the foot on several occasions. We had a lot of turnovers and penalties,” Littlerock head coach Joe Carnevali said.

“The bottom line is we’re killing ourselves. It’s very disappointing. I have a lot of players coming back next year, so the potential is there for us.

We just have to come together as a team.” Nuñez had 101 yards receiving and Morris threw for 120 yards. Kenneth Olson ran for 78 yards on 11 carries for the Lobos.

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