Northmor battled back from a first-quarter deficit to break a two-game losing streak thanks to the arm of sophomore quarterback A.J. Bower.

In topping host East Knox 36-23, the Golden Knights trailed 11-0 late in the first quarter before their offense took off and put 29 straight points on the board. In the final minute of the first, Bower hit C.J. Stoney for an 18-yard touchdown and Caleb Schnuerer added a two-point run.

Bower then hit Hunter Fulk for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give his team a 15-11 lead going into the break. Northmor added two more touchdown passes by Bower — of 17 yards to Fulk and of 10 yards to Bo Landin — in the third quarter to lead 29-11.

The Golden Knight QB would get his fifth touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter. After East Knox got within a 29-17 count, he hit Fulk for 65 yards. The Bulldogs reached the end zone one more time, but Northmor was able to improve to 5-2, 2-2 in KMAC play.

Bower threw for 331 yards on 20-of-39 passing. Fulk had eight catches for 177 of that total, while Jaxson Wenger caught two for 52, Stoney had three for 37, Schnuerer added four for 36 and Landin contributed three for 29. Schnuerer also led the team on the ground with 31 yards.

Highland Scots

Highland pulled away from visiting Shelby in the second half to improve to 5-2 and 4-0 in MOAC play.

In their 44-20 victory, Dane Nauman got the scoring started when he ran for his first of five touchdown in the first quarter on a 40-yard sprint. The Scots went up 14-0 early in the second quarter when Nauman scored on a one-yard dive. Shelby responded with a touchdown to get within a 14-6 margin, but a 42-yard field goal by Caleb Hunter put the Scots up 17-6 going into the break.

Early in the third quarter, Shelby got within a 17-12 margin, but Highland would start to widen their advantage. A 36-yard field goal by Hunter and scoring runs of four and one by Nauman helped the Scots open up a 34-20 lead by the end of the period.

The Scots then got an eight-yard scoring run by Nauman in the fourth period and Hunter got his third field goal of the night — this time from 24 yards out — to provide Highland with their final margin of victory.

Nauman tallied 308 yards on 39 rushes, while Chandler Stevens added five carries for 123. Kolton Stover hit on 4-of-8 passes for 54 yards, with Kort Sears tallying a 43-yard reception.

Cardington Pirates

Cardington battled back against visiting Danville on Friday night, but couldn’t quite overcome a slow start in a 28-20 loss to the Blue Devils.

The Pirates (1-6, 0-4 in KMAC play) found themselves in a 14-0 hole after 12 minutes of play, but were able to get within a 14-6 margin at the half thanks to an eight-yard Kaiden Beach touchdown run.

Trailing 21-6 in the third quarter, the team got a seven-yard run by Ashton Plowman to get back within nine points. In the fourth quarter, Wyatt Denney ran for a 48-yard touchdown and added a two-point conversion to make it a 21-20 game. Unfortunately for Cardington, Danville’s Max Payne finished the night’s scoring with a 37-yard run to allow the Blue Devils to finish on top.

Denney had 87 rushing yards, while Plowman added 40. Warren Garrison completed 3-of-4 passes for 75 yards and Beach added 6-of-7 for 53. Kaylin Briggs totaled five catches for 86 yards.

Scots still perfect in MOAC

Staff Report

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS