North Greene appeared to be gracious hosts on Friday night, cladding themselves in the sable of their cross-town foes from Chuckey-Doak. But the Knights were uninterested in matching outfits or outcomes as their punishing run game powered the visitors to a 60-27, season-opening victory.
“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” Chuckey-Doak coach Billy Kaylor said. “There are obviously some things we still need to work on early in the year. But it’s a good first game against a good football team, and I’m proud of these boys.”
Chuckey-Doak used a four-pronged attack in the backfield and the offensive line provided plenty of room for all of them. As a team Chuckey-Doak ran for 325 yards on 40 carries.
Avery Parkey carried it 12 times for 78 yards, Marcus Britt had seven carries for 59 yards, Brayden Greene had seven carries for 57 yards and Zaiden Schacke had seven carries for 86 yards. In total eight different Black Knights ran the ball on Friday.
“In the preseason I said we have a lot of mouths to feed back there, and they all did a good job running the football tonight,” Kaylor said. “I’m super proud of our offensive line, they played really well in both pass protection and the run game. We knew we had four guys that could tote it, but it was good to see it happen in a game. But as talented as those are, tonight was a credit to those front five for moving the line of scrimmage.”
With North Greene donning black jerseys a pall was quickly cast over the brand new bleachers at the Tundra while the visiting sideline turned electric just seconds into the season opener.
Before Chuckey-Doak’s prolific offensive even got started the Black Knights’ very first play of the season finished in the endzone. Coby Love hauled in the opening kickoff on the right hash and found a big hole as he sprinted toward his sideline. The field opened up in front of him and 88 yards later Chuckey-Doak led 6-0.
“I told the guys that we needed to start fast, and we did a really good job blocking it up. Coby did a great job returning it, and its really exciting to start the day with a kickoff return touchdown. Those are rare.” Kaylor said.
North Greene went to work and surpassed the Knights in just 59 seconds. The Huskies score came when quarterback Jared Swatzell launched one deep down the far boundary and senior wideout Matt Boyd ran under it. No Black Knight was able to keep up, and when Juan Soto’s kick cleared the upright North Greene led 7-6.
The Huskies held the lead for 5:57, but Britt’s first carry of the night covered seven tough yards and gave Chuckey-Doak a lead the rest of the way.
Greene also scored on his first carry of the season, going through a series of arm tackles for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:37 left in the first quarter. North Greene blocked the extra point to keep the lead at 19-7.
North Greene’s offense kept the pressure on the Black Knights in the first half, and in fact the Huskies outgained Chuckey-Doak through two quarters, but a couple of key stops proved pivotal.
On North Greene’s ensuing series it marched all the way to the three-yard line, but Chuckey-Doak stood strong and kept the Huskies out of the end zone on fourth down.
The next time North Greene was on offense Braxton Lowe jumped a slant intended for Boyd and ended the drive in Chuckey-Doak territory with an interception.
“Those are huge mental reps for our defense,” Kaylor said. “Getting backed up on a big play and to be able to bow your neck and get a stop is huge. We showed some resilience and that is something we can build off of.”
Going the other way the Knights got chunk plays from quarterback Brody Myers and Greene before Greene burst through the line and saw nothing but green in front of him on the way to a 38-yard touchdown run.
North Greene closed the gap once again when Parker Collins took a pass across the middle 42 yards, rolling over the last defender while crossing the goal line.
With 32 seconds left in the first half Chuckey-Doak found paydirt one more time. Kiptyn Ball delivered a quick screen pass to Lowe and a wall of white jerseys escorted him into the endzone. This time Myers ran in the two-point try as the lead grew to 33-14 at the break.
Chuckey-Doak’s offense did not slow down in the second half and its first series of the third quarter finished with Myers sending a ball to the back of the endzone that Skylar Davis high pointed and brought down for his first of two touchdown receptions.
Swatzell tossed his third touchdown of the night on the next series. This time he found tight end Levi Gray uncovered on a backside seam that went for 53 yards.
With the gap closed to 41-21 a stop might have given the Huskies a chance, but Ball dashed those hopes when he delivered a strike to Davis on fourth and 14 from the 34-yard line. Davis’s tough grab over the defense pushed the Knights’ lead to 47-21.
In the fourth quarter Schacke found the endzone twice for Chuckey-Doak and Leon Johnson crossed the goal line for the Huskies.
Chuckey-Doak finished the day with 464 yards of total offense. Ball and Myers split time at quarterback with Ball going 5-of-8 for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Myers was 3-of-7 for 35 yards and a score. Davis caught three passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Lowe caught three passes for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Chuckey-Doak produced 377 yards of offense on Friday. Swatzell was 13-of-27 passing for 210 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Johnson ran the ball 24 times for 156 yards with a touchdown. Boyd had eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Chuckey-Doak will be at home next week to face Sullivan East. North Greene will head to West Greene for another cross-county rivalry.
