Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/31/2010 at 9:19am

Pulaski Academy has an unorthodox three-headed quarterback attack, but even while sharing equal time with two other signal callers, junior Fredi Knighten had a monster night for the Bruins. Knighten had his hand in five touchdowns as P.A. crushed rival Central Arkansas Christian 59-33 on Monday in the season opener at War Memorial Stadium.

Among Knighten's big plays on Day 1 of the 2010 First Security Bank Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic were a 99-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Lamb and a 60-yard weaving punt return through CAC tacklers late in the first half that put the Bruins comfortably in front 24-0.

"It's just great 'cause Coach [Kevin Kelley], he let me do a lot of things tonight," Knighten said after being named the game's most valuable player. "He said, 'Just go out and do your best. That's all we ask of you.' "

Knighten's 99-yard pass started the game's scoring and his 22-yard run, in which the 5-foot-9, 165-pounder broke a couple of tackles at the line and carried a couple of CAC tacklers on his back the final few yards, concluded the Bruins' onslaught. In between, Knighten threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Greyson Skokos and caught a 1-yard pass from Jack Snider, another of the Bruins' three-man quarterback rotation. His zig-zagging return of the punt late in the first half seemed to break the Mustangs' back.

"He's an explosive, exciting football player," the Bruins' Kelley said. "Fortunately we're able to put him in [several] positions. We have some great receivers who can run and catch when he throws it to them. And he's a good little open-field runner, as you saw on the punt return and the rushing touchdown. And he can catch the ball ... He played all those positions last year and he got the opportunity and took advantage [Monday night]."

CAC did not score until Lawson Vassar's wayward pass was picked off by Mustangs linebacker Logan Stafford, who rambled 60 yards untouched to make it 24-6. The teams then would trade scores, with CAC only getting as close as 17 points, 31-14, before P.A. blew it wide open, leading by as much as 32, 59-27 with 2:16 to play.

But CAC could have scored first and maybe changed the early momentum, driving to the lip of the goal line in the first quarter before Eric Simmons was stopped a couple of inches short on fourth down by Bruins cornerback Dylan Little. Knighten and Lamb, recognizing man-to-man defense on first down, struck immediately with a play that can't ever be topped statistically in Arkansas high school football.

"That's a big 14-point swing," Kelley said. "They came out in a defense and gave us a look and we always like to look for a 99-yard touchdown. We've always wanted one. We've never had one, and we got the opportunity to have one and fortunately made the throw and catch to run it in. I think we've had a 90-yarder but never one that was 99. Nice to have one that will never be longer."

Knighten said, "I just threw it up and let [Lamb] do all the work. He did all the running. It was all him ... [The ball] was very close to the goal line, like maybe a couple of inches. It was kind of pressure-filled because you don't want to get a safety, you don't want to give the other team points or the ball, so I just kinda let it fly."

L.J. Wallace caught two scoring passes - 22 yards from Snider, the Bruins' second TD of the game, and 37 yards from Vassar in the second half. Connor Pope had a 10-yard scoring run in an 18-point second quarter for P.A. Greyson Skokos caught a 22-yard pass from Snider to go with his reception of a Knighten throw.

CAC's Marquelle Nelson scored on a 14-yard run and Beau Barnes was on the receiving end of 31- and 36-yard scoring passes from CAC quarterback Dylan Sherrill. Simmons also had a 5-yard touchdown run.

The teams combined for 68 second-half points, after nearly half the crowd of 5,500 fans had already cleared out.

P.A.'s three-headed quarterback system accounted for 569 yards passing, and the Bruins gained another 131 on the ground. While Knighten was the flashiest of the quarterbacks, Snider was the most efficient in completing 15 of 18 passes for 213 yards and three scores. Lamb had five receptions for 138 yards and Zac Reyna caught 6 for 102 yards.

The Bruins were in control at halftime despite three lost fumbles. CAC had two interceptions and a lost fumble in the first half.

"We made a lot of mistakes but we did a lot of good things," Kelley said. "This time of the year, you're going to make mistakes, especially playing three quarterbacks who had never started in a varsity game before. I thought they stepped up at times and did some bad things at times. If we can eliminate the bad things, we feel good going forward."

Vilonia overpowered Sylvan Hills 42-14 in Monday's opener. Vilonia quarterback Drew Knowles was the game's MVP, rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns and completing his only pass in five attempts for a 55-yard score. Vilonia scored on all four first-half possessions and on six of its first seven drives. Thin Sylvan Hills ran out of steam after closing to within 7, 21-14, late in the first half.

On Tuesday, Little Rock Parkview plays Little Rock Mills at 5 p.m., followed by Cabot and Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m.

Pulaski Academy's next game is at home Sept. 10 against Cabot. CAC will try to rebound at Little Rock McClellan on Sept. 10.

The Kickoff Classic is sponsored by ArkansasSports360.com and KABZ 103.7 The Buzz, and is presented by First Security Bank.

(Corrected on Sept. 1 to fix name of L.J. Wallace of Pulaski Academy)

 

 

Tagged: LJ Wallace, Kevin Kelley, 2010 Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic, Fredi Knighten, Garrett Lamb, Greyson Skokos, Jack Snider, Lawson Cassar, War Memorial Stadium, Dylan Sherrill, Pulaski Academy Bruins, Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs, Marquelle Nelson, Eric Simmons, Logan Stafford, Beau Barnes, Dylan Little