Saint Jo
It was one of the worst showings for Saint Jo football on Friday night as it traveled all the way to Knox City.
The Greyhounds walloped the Panthers 52-0, ending the game at halftime thanks to the mercy rule which allowed Knox City to get on with its homecoming festivities.
Saint Jo came into the game undefeated but also needed a challenge with its closest game being a 22-point win against Crowell this season.
The Panthers hoped Knox City could push them. The Greyhounds had wins against Strawn, Motley County and Crowely as well as respectable losses against established programs like May and Rankin.
Saint Jo’s biggest black mark this season has been its slow starts in all of its games. In all five of the previous wins, the Panthers found themselves behind early in the first quarter. They quickly course-corrected in those games, but against a team with equal or better talent Coach Mark Stevens knew it could prove costly. On Friday night it proved even more so.
Saint Jo went four and out on its opening drive and Knox City quickly scored three plays later to take an early lead.
A feeling of déjà vu fell upon the team, but with it came confidence the team just needed to flip a switch to take control of the game.
The offense moved the ball and even converted a fourth down on its next drive, but a jump ball in the end zone Saint Jo usually converts on was instead intercepted.
The Panther defense looked to respond and forced the Greyhounds into a fourth down in their own territory, but unfortunately Knox City hit on a long touchdown pass.
Saint Jo was down 16-0 and it only got worse from there.
The Panthers turned the ball over five more times in the game, including three more interceptions. The offense struggled executing what should be simple play calls and lacked big plays all night to make up for them.
Alternatively on defense, Saint Jo failed to stop the Greyhounds at all though several times Knox City had a short field to work with that made things easier.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears lost to Motley County on Thursday night.
The Matadors won 84-36 against the Bears.
It was another frustrating game for Gold-Burg as mistakes let the game get away from the Bears.
Gold-Burg did fight back in the first quarter and at one point had the lead Motley County had built up down to 10 points trailing 38-28.
Unfortunately for Coach Brady Hibbitts, it was another game where lack of execution was the main culprit.
“We lost an onside kick, two false starts, holding, a fumble they returned for a touchdown,” Hibbitts said. “Execution is the key word again.”

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns lost a disappointing game at Vernon Northside on Friday night.
The Indians won 44-13 against the Longhorns in a game they were hoping they could win.
Last year’s game between the two teams was an instant classic as it went seven overtimes before Forestburg prevailed. This year both teams were having better seasons.
Unfortunately, Coach Greg Roller felt like his team never really showed up.
In what he feels is a trend of the program struggling with road games, it was also the first time Roller felt like his team failed to bring that extra bit of energy.
“We just really came out and didn’t have any energy,” Roller said. “They came out and scored real quick. We matched them and I hoped we would put ourselves together, but then they scored some more and all of a sudden its halftime.”
Most of the damage was done in the first half as the Indians led 32-7.
While the defense picked up the pace and even set up Forestburg’s only touchdown as Nathan Payne intercepted a pass and returned it to the one yard line, the offense never got rolling.
Two late touchdowns from Northside made the final score look worse than it was for most of the game as Forestburg lost 44-13.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.