Quick start helps lift Knights over Lenox in playoff opener

TABOR - Rarely does an opening kick off tell the story of a four quarter football game.

Rarely. Not never.

Fremont-Mills’ Seth Malcom made that clear scooping up the opening kick off from Lenox in the Eight-person playoff opening round and rumbling 57 yards into the endzone just nine seconds into the game.

The Knights would go on to score on their next seven possessions and dominate on both sides of the ball in a 61-8 victory before a capacity crowd in Tabor Friday.

Knights’ head coach Jeremy Christiansen said Malcom’s touchdown came out of a good scouting report and an even better effort by his sophomore tailback.

“It was great to get off to a good start,” Christiansen said. “We started a little faster than we expected. We didn’t think they’d kick it deep so we moved our tailbacks up and it worked out.”
Very little didn’t work out for the Knights in the win.

Fremont-Mills’ defense forced three-and-outs on the Tigers’ first three possessions and the offense answered with two touchdown scampers by Malcom and another by Jaeger Powers to take a commanding 28-0 lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter.

Malcom’s fourth touchdown of the opening half, coming on a 61-yard burst, put the game into a running clock according to the “mercy rule” with nine minutes to go in the first half.

The lead would swell to 47-0 after a single series in the opening half with the Knights’ no. 1 offense before Christiansen turned to his backups.

The Tigers, who scored 108 points in a September win over Mormon Trail and better than 43 points per game this season, were held to a season-low in points and just 196 total yards.

“I think our guys were well prepared and we executed to a ‘T’ at times in my opinion,” Christiansen said.

Offensively, the Knights controlled the line of scrimmage to the tune of 330 yards rushing and 434 total yards. Malcom carried the ball just four times but racked up three rushing scores and 149 yards on the ground. Eli Owen picked up two TDs on his two carries and quarterback Mason Vanatta, who threw for 104 yards and a touchdown, added a 64 yards TD scamper.

“I think our offensive line took control from the get go,” Christiansen said. “We’ve talked all year about our offensive line, they’re probably overlooked by some. I think we’ve progressed from early in the season and they had a very good showing.”

The win sets up a rematch with Exira-EHK (9-1) in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Spartans dealt the Knights (9-1) a 45-27 setback in the season opener for their lone loss this year. Fremont-Mills led 20-0 at one time in the game before Exira-EHK rallied for the win.

“There’s so many things that have changed from week one to week 11,” Christiansen said. “It’s another game and there’s a common opponent we’ve played quite a bit in the last three or four years standing in the way.”

Kick off is set for 7 p.m. in Exira.

Scoring Summary
FM  28  13  13  07  61
L     00   00  00 08   8

Game Summary
FM – Seth Malcom, 57 kick off return (kick no good).
FM – Malcom, 9 run (kick good).
FM – Malcom, 70 run (two-point conversion good).
FM – Jaeger Powers, 8 run (kick good).
FM – Malcom, 61 run (kick good).
FM – Powers from Mason Vanatta, 21 pass (kick no good).
FM – Vanatta, 63 run (kick no good).
FM – Eli Owen, 6 run (kick good).
FM – Owen, 24 run (kick good).
L – Colton Gordon, 7 run (two-point conversion good).