Delco Christian came into this game with high expectations and wa on the same power trip that Calvary was against them the week prior. Enter Bristol. The Warriors came into this game hungry after constantly being trampled in preseason and regular season games.
As a result the Warriors came out strong in the first quarter as Coughlin put Bristol on the board first for the Warriors and in the second quarter Chris Gale would tack on another for Bristol. This was not because of a lack of positioning on the Knights front, as defensive coordinator Mike McKinney seemed to have all the personnel in the right places, however the elusiveness of Bristol High School quarterback Trevor Leone and outside speed from dual backs Chris Gale and Kennedy Davis put Bristol up early.
After some missed blocks and lack of discipline for the Knights part, they were down 14-0 late into the second quarter. After a late first half touchdown by Zac Moore, the Knights went into the half looking for a clean slate.
Powered by a fresh half and a strategy that was set to work, Delco Christian came out firing. After Leone was able to Houdini his way out of a few sacks and run for a couple of yards, Chris Gale scored AGAIN for the Warriors making the score 20-7.
That is when it got interesting. The point after was what probably should have put the game away for Bristol. Instead, Henry Miller for the Knights was able to get a hand on the kick and block it. That opportunity was all the Knights needed to start making their chances count. Led by the “four-headed monster” of Winkis, Moore, Monaghan and Tascone, the Knights offense simply outran the Warriors to the pylons.
Here is how the first drive of the third went for the Knights. Monaghan big gain, Moore big gain, Winkis up the middle for what seemed to be a short gain but he was able to shred what was the interior of the Bristol defense and hit paydirt. Crisanti followed with an extra point and Delco was within six.
Bristol was huge on special teams though and after exploiting what was probably the biggest weakness on the Delco Christian team with a 69 yard kickoff return, Bristol looked poised to strike. That is when Mother Nature decided she was tired of watching. After a fumble by Leone that the Knights recovered, things were looking up for Delco Christian.
The Knights offensive line really started to make big pushes on the Warriors and as a result the run game found their stride. Instead of talking about how big Winkis was up the middle or Moore on the outside, let me bring up one of my favorite things about this Knights team. Sam Tascone-Peters. While he will not bring in 100+ yards every game, this kid is clutch. Multiple third down conversions on a big Delco drive and he punched in the third and final Delco Christian touchdown and after a Crisanti kick the Knights had the lead 21-20.
Tascone and Grim were big in the secondary again for the Knights thwarting some beautifully thrown balls that were either almost picked or broken up by the Delco Christian secondary. After a few sacks the Knights had this nail biter wrapped up 21-20.
After a talk with Coach Jim Favino, I do not know if happy is the word to describe it, but he complimented the team, and the offensive line in particular on a gritty smash-mouth performance that improved the Knights record to a healthy 3-0 on the season and 3-0 BAL.
Next week the Knights have the George School at home.
