SHORELINE — King’s had a hard time keeping a handle on the ball, momentum and at times its emotions in last week’s Cascade Conference football clash with South Whidbey.
Four costly King’s turnovers and superb clock management by the Falcons down the stretch clinched a 31-20 comeback victory for South Whidbey in the Sept. 30 contest at Woolsey Stadium.
The defeat dropped King’s to 1-2 in the conference and 2-3 overall. South Whidbey improved to 2-1 and 3-2.
“We weren’t as upset about the loss as we were about the way we lost,” Knights coach Jim Shapiro said. “The kids showed a lack of character and a lack of discipline. When those things are out of order, you’re not going to execute well.”
Behind three rushing touchdowns from Spencer Clark, the Knights took a 20-18 advantage into halftime. But the Falcons held King’s scoreless the second half and limited the Knights to just four yards and one first down in the fourth quarter.
Feeling the frustration, players from both sides got into a shoving match with less than a minute remaining. Clark found himself in the middle of the fray and was ejected. As a result, the all-league halfback will have to sit out tonight’s game at Cedarcrest.
King’s fumbled the ball away on the third play of the second half and its next possession ended with an interception that Nick Tenuta returned 46 yards for a touchdown to put South Whidbey in front for good.
Alex Lehman’s 16-yard reception on a fourth-down rollout pass from Greg Uhrich gave the Knights a chance to answer, but two plays later the Falcons recovered another fumble at their own 11-yard line.
South Whidbey proceeded to use the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter pushing the Knights backward. Danny Parra capped the 18-play, 89-yard drive by lofting a 10-yard TD pass to J.R. Graham. The duo previously hooked up for an 8-yard score with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
“They did a great job running between the tackles and picking up first downs,” Shapiro said.
Clark rushed for 201 yards in the first half and finished with 247 yards on 22 attempts. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior sprinted 25 yards on his first touch and reached the end zone on a 9-yard burst on his third carry to give King’s an early 7-0 edge.
“Our offense played a great first half and I was thinking South Whidbey wouldn’t be able to go four quarters with us,” Shapiro said. “To South Whidbey’s credit, that proved to be wrong.”
After the Falcons cut the deficit to one on a 25-yard TD run by Levi Sawyers, Clark bolted 46 yards for his second TD at the 10:05 mark of the second quarter. Clark struck for one last long run on the next King’s possession, zigzagging across the field 63 yards for a TD with 2:33 left in the half, giving the Knights their largest lead at 20-12.
Senior tailback Rob Knight was the focus of the South Whidbey rushing attack, piling up 132 of his team-high 190 yards in the first half.
“We’re not giving up on our season,” Shapiro said. “We’ve got to turn it around more on the mental side than the physical right now. It’s been our character issues that are holding us back. We’re looking for the next four weeks to be a new season for us.”
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