STONEY CREEK – There was no shortage of offense in Friday night’s clash in Stoney Creek. 117 total points were scored on Goddard Field in a high-scoring affair between Chuckey-Doak and Unaka.
Although they walked in as visitors, the Black Knights made sure to leave as winners after out dueling the Rangers 71-46.
“Overall, our kids played hard for four quarters. We came out with a win so I’m happy,” Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Billy Kaylor stated. “It’s great. All of our guys need that little confidence boost. We scored a lot of points and did some really good things. That certainly helps our confidence moving forward.”
The highlight of the night was Hayden Roper’s impressive performances with the ball in his hands. The senior running back tallied six touchdowns (yes, you read that correctly) to lead his team to victory.
“I felt like I could just do really anything. My o-line did great. There’s nothing I could complain about,” Roper said.
With a fresh new team with new faces in new places, the wild-card Black Knights took the field for their first taste of in-season action under the lights. New starting quarterback Dominique Atchison earned a win in his first start under center and fit the role well in his first start.
“I thought he did a great job,” Coach Kaylor said. “He managed the game well. He handled some bad snaps well. He made some plays out of nothing. I thought he did a great job. He’s going to be a weapon for us down the road for sure. He was tonight and will be down the road.
The Black Knights received the opening kickoff and wasted little to no time putting points on the board. Roper and company only needed a minute and 19 seconds to score their first six of the contest. Roper worked his way into the end zone on a 56-yard touchdown to begin his night.
Billy Hahnlan nailed the extra point and the score was 7-0 with 10:41 left in the first.
A huge defensive play on the front line by James Seidl halted Unaka on their first drive and would eventually force them to punt. On 2nd-&-1, he backed them up for a loss of 3 yards. Two-straight false start penalties sent them backwards 10 more yards and forced a punt.
Chuckey-Doak’s offense went back to work and added more points to the board early. They didn’t find their way there smoothly and faced a 4th-&-1 that needed to be converted. Gage Hill picked it up and kept the chains moving.
For the first time this season we were fortunate enough to witness the Dominique-Dominic connection for a touchdown. Quarterback Dominique Atchison scrambled out of the pocket and saw Dominic Hahnlan streaking towards the end zone and launched a jump ball in his direction. The junior receiver high pointed the ball and plucked it away from his defender for a highlight touchdown grab.
Unaka went back on offense and put together a slow and methodical drive that took six minutes and five seconds, before ultimately resulting in a touchdown. The drive could have ended early if not for Draedyn Freeman’s 27-yard catch on 3rd down. The drive-extending catch needed another clutch play to help keep the same drive alive. Facing 4th-&-5, the Rangers decided to gun for the end zone instead of the line-to-gain. Brynin Repass lobbed a pass to Connor McKinney in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown catch. Repass added the two-point conversion to make it 14-8.
Not even a minute ran off the clock before Chuckey-Doak added another touchdown. Two plays later, Ethan Heimiller broke off a quick 48-yard run that reached the end zone and helped the Knights lead 21-8 towards the end of the first quarter.
With Chuckey-Doak scoring in under a minute, Unaka took that as a challenge and scored in just 28 seconds for a faster response. A quick screen pass underneath to McKinney resulted in a 76-yard touchdown reception. Repass added the two-point conversion again.
After one, Chuckey-Doak led 21-16.
Chuckey-Doak went back on the attack and scored yet again with Roper delivering again. Atchison’s 31-yard scramble set him up to finish the drive with a 38-yard touchdown run just one play later. Hahnlan made his fourth PAT to make it 28-16.
The Rangers inched closer again with a 30-yard touchdown catch by Micah Gray on their next drive. The two-point try failed and they trailed 28-22.
It seemed like no time was wasted again on Chuckey-Doak’s ensuing drive with Roper dashing 63 yards into the end zone to finish a quick 14-second drive in one play. They jumped out to a 35-22 lead after Hahnlan connected again on the extra point.
The chance to run away with the lead presented itself when the Black Knights forced a stop on defense. Skylar Davis returned the punt 16 yards to help them gain better field position once the offense took back over. Once again Roper bounced to the outside and found his way to the end zone again. Hahnlan’s PAT helped them assume a 42-22 lead.
The Knights forced another stop on 3rd down with a pass breakup from Gavin Patrick. That defensive stop helped C-D drive the field for one last offensive possession. They made it inside the red zone with a few ticks remaining and called upon Billy Hahnlan to nail a 25-yarder to close the half.
“He had a great night kicking,” Coach Kaylor expressed.
Chuckey-Doak led 45-22 at the break.
With a 23-point deficit, Unaka didn’t go away without a fight like few might have expected. A long snap flew past Atchison and rolled in the end zone before resulting in a safety that helped trim their deficit down to 45-24.
It wouldn’t take long before Connor McKinney was found deep downfield again for a 47-yard touchdown catch from Repass. Draedyn Freeman tacked on two extra points and reeled their way back into a two-score game while the score sat at 45-32.
Roper took it upon himself to immediately push that margin back up to three possessions with his fifth touchdown run of the night to make it 52-32.
Unaka was fortunate to add another touchdown, but got the help they needed to convert a 4th-&-2. They lined up and got Chuckey-Doak to jump to give them a brand-new set of downs. From there they finished the drive with a touchdown to Ashton Fuller to pull themselves back within two scores, 52-38.
The Black Knights went into the fourth quarter and responded back the same way they had done five times before. Chuckey-Doak handed it off to Hayden Roper and watched him go. The speedy tailback sprinted away for his sixth and final touchdown of the night from 49 yards out. The PAT put them ahead 59-38.
“You know what you’re going to get every time with him and that’s nothing less than 100 percent. He did a great job and I’m proud of him,” Coach Kaylor bragged.
Unaka wouldn’t go away and fought back for a one-yard receiving touchdown from Micah Gray to make it 59-46. It would be the last time they would score.
On a crucial fourth down, the Knights broke away from the Rangers and scored a 29-yard touchdown from Atchison to Skylar Davis. After going ahead 65-46 they would stop Unaka once more on defense and ice the game with a 6-yard touchdown run from Marcus Britt.
After a marathon of a game that lasted almost three and a half hours, Chuckey-Doak walked out of Stoney Creek with a 71-46 victory to open up their season.
“Credit to Unaka. Those guys played their tails off. Coach Bryan and his guys do a great job. We played four quarters of tough football and they’re a good football team,” Kaylor mentioned.
Coach Kaylor and the Black Knights start the 2024 campaign with a 1-0 (0-0) record with the win over the Rangers. They travel to Grainger next week for a non-regional matchup with the Grizzlies in Rutledge.
