Photo by Travis David | North Knox senior Brennan Messel eludes a North Daviess defender during sectional play Friday night. Messel threw for a touchdown in the season-ending loss.

BY TRAVIS DAVID

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ELNORA — Friday night was a case of deja vu for the North Knox football team. Playing against Southwest Conference rival North Daviess for the second time in three weeks, unfortunately for the Warriors the outcome was the same as the first meeting.

Costly penalties and failed execution in key moments led to a 22-12 season-ending loss in the opening round of the Class 1A Sectional.

With the loss, North Knox wrapped up the season with a 2-8 record, while the host Cougars improved to 7-3.

After winning the coin toss and electing to receive the opening kickoff, North Daviess struck first.

Coltyn McNabb capped a 9-play, 66-yard drive with a 1-run scoring run for an early 8-0 lead. The Cougars’ opening drive was aided by a questionable defensive pass interference penalty when the feet of a North Knox defensive back and a Cougars’ receiver became tangled.

After going three-and-out on its opening possession, North Knox looked poised to pull even on the next possession.

The Warriors used a strong rushing attack – mainly in the form of senior Brennan Messel – to march inside the North Daviess 10-yard line. But on fourth down at the 1, a fumbled snap gave the Cougars possession of the ball with their lead en tact.

“There’s a couple of things we just didn’t execute there,” Warriors’ coach Josh Chambers said of the failed conversion. “They did a nice job of cutting, subbing and really just doing everything they could to keep us from scoring … just one of those nights where things did not go our way.”

The score remained the same entering the lockerroom at halftime as both defenses settled into the game.

On the opening possession of the second half, the Warriors once again marched down inside the North Daviess’ red zone. Unfortunately, the visitors once again came up empty. The 9-play drive – which started at their own 24 – came to a halt on a lost fumble.

The two teams traded possessions before arguably the biggest possession of the game gave North Daviess a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars capped an 11-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown by quarterback Keaton Graber with 7 minutes, 26 seconds left on the game clock.

North Knox appeared to have two stops during the drive, but a pair of penalties kept the drive alive. The first was a roughing the kicker call on a punt attempt. The second was yet another questionable defensive pass interference call negating an interception by Tyler Clark. 

“Everytime we had a big play or an interception or did something that would have given us momentum it seemed like there was something out there saying ‘not today’,” Chambers said. “I am not going to sit here and complain much, but I just feel for my football players … I am going to miss them. We spend a lot of time together. We do a lot of things for each other.”

Despite being down by two scores and only having scored just one touchdown against the Cougars in over seven quarters this season, North Knox did not go down without a fight.

Messel hooked up with Clark and Aven Saucerman for gains of 24 and 23 yards through the air, respectively, before Camden McCory put the Warriors on the board with a 2-yard run. The score by McCory pulled North Knox to within 14-6 with just over four minutes left on the clock.

But North Daviess responded with a 41-yard rushing score from Eli Scott for a 22-6 lead.

Messel hit Clark for a 60-yard catch and run for a score with 1:23 left on the clock, but North Daviess would recover the onside kick.

“I was proud of the way we fought until the end,” the Warriors’ coach said of the two fourth-quarter scores. “And that is exactly what I have come to expect from them. That is North Knox Warrior football.”

Playing in his final game in a Warrior uniform, Messel completed seven passes for 148 yards with a touchdown. The senior also chewed up a game-high 87 yards on the ground.

“I can’t say enough about Brennan Messel,” Chambers said of his leader. “I think he was held together by duct tape tonight. Really all of those seniors … they all are as tough as they get.”