Knights blank Prentiss
By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Nov. 6, 2004
PRENTISS West Lauderdale put it all together on Friday night.
The Knights' defense held Prentiss to only one first down for the entire game and propelled West Lauderdale to a 14-0 win over Prentiss in the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A State football playoffs.
West Lauderdale's offensive line was just as dominating, pushing the Bulldogs' defensive front around throughout the game. The Knights' slow-moving but methodical offense controlled the ball for more than 30 of the game's 48 minutes.
Touchdown runs by Scott Truesdale and Dameon Baylor were the difference for West Lauderdale (8-3).
Truesdale's touchdown run followed the one thing that gave the Bulldogs (8-3) any kind of defensive fortune a penalty. After the Knights reached the Prentiss 1-yard line, a penalty backed West Lauderdale back to the 22.
Moments later, though, Truesdale burst up the middle for the score, which put the Knights on top 6-0 in the second quarter.
West Lauderdale extended that lead early in the third quarter. After Prentiss forced the Knights to punt, the Bulldogs fumbled the ball on their first play of the second half and lost possession. Two plays later, Baylor rolled into the end zone from three yards out to give West Lauderdale a 14-0 lead.
The night belonged to the Knights' defense, though. West Lauderdale out-pushed and out-hustled an offense that scored more than 40 points in three of its last four regular season games. Prentiss' duo of running backs, Georgio Hall and Emmett Fairley, ran for a combined total of 17 touchdowns during the regular season.
On Friday, the only thing the Bulldogs ran for were their lives.
The Knights forced the normally conservative Prentiss offense into passing situations with long third downs and a double-digits lead in the fourth quarter.
The only blemish on West Lauderdale's defensive
performance was a series of dropped would-be interceptions. But Michael Pogue redeemed the Knights late in the fourth quarter, reeling in a high Bulldogs throw that effectively killed Prentiss' hopes for a comeback.
West Lauderdale is set to host Greene County in the second round of the playoffs on Friday.
