EVERETT — For the Kamiak faithful, Knight time is the right time.

Battered, bloodied, but not beaten, Chris Knight epitomized the gutsy effort that keyed Kamiak’s 21-14 Western Conference 4A South Division victory over Shorewood Sept. 12 at Goddard Stadium.

Knight caught a 36-yard touchdown pass to give Kamiak a 7-0 first-quarter lead. Then, with his team trailing 14-7 in the waning seconds of the third quarter, he ignited his teammates with an 83-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Kamiak rode the momentum into the fourth quarter and went ahead to stay when Gary Rogers connected with Josh Reed on a 69-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-14 lead with 6:41 remaining.

A minute later, Knight was forced out of the game after a hard collision with Shorewood’s Tom Guttu.

The pair collided near midfield. Knight’s helmet flew off and he suffered a broken nose. Later, bloodied and standing with an ice pack on his face on the sideline, Knight was ready to rejoin the fray.

“He breaks his nose tonight and wants to go back in,” Kamiak coach Dan Mack marveled, noting that Knight, a senior, has come back from serious knee, shoulder and hand injuries during his Kamiak career.

Minus Knight, Kamiak survived a hail of late long passes by Shorewood quarterback Sean Tracey.

“Shorewood’s a great team,” a jubilant Mack said. “They are just one heck of a football team.”

Shorewood came in with a reputation for making big plays, but it was Kamiak that struck first.

An 11-play, 60-yard drive, capped by Rogers’ 36-yard touchdown pass to Knight gave Kamiak a 7-0 lead with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

After struggling in its opening two possessions, Shorewood did not disappoint, stunning Kamiak when the strong-armed Tracey launched a pass 50 yards down the right sideline to wideout Wade Gurnett.

The speedy wideout caught the pass in stride and raced to the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown play with one second left in the first quarter.

Shorewood’s primary weapon of choice was 6-foot-2, 230-pound, running back Seth Setterberg. The senior ground out 43 of his game-high 144 rushing yards on an eight-play, 60-yard second-quarter scoring drive.

Tracey’s 4-yard touchdown toss to Tyler Tonkin in the right flat capped the drive and gave Shorewood its 14-7 halftime lead.

The Thunderbirds had a chance to go ahead 21-7, but were stuffed on fourth down just before halftime.

“That was a big momentum change,” Shorewood coach Jeff Weible said. “I thought we controlled most of the game. We out-gained them. We just couldn’t make the plays when we had to.”Bob Mortenson writes for The Herald in Everett. Enterprise writer Charlie Laughtland contributed to this story.