Published: September 23, 2006 01:23 am      

Eagles slip past Panthers

BARBOURVILLE — Knox Central beat Madison Southern everywhere but on the scoreboard Friday.

The Eagles, after only gaining 26 yards offensively in the first half, scored 14 points in the second half to steal the victory from the Panthers.

Zach McGuire connected with Daron Thomas for a 14-yard touchdown pass-and-catch with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback and give Madison Southern 3-3 (2-0) a 20-19 victory.

Knox Central 3-2 (0-1) scored first in the opening quarter. The Panthers took the ball 60 yards on nine plays on their first drive of the game. Cory Smith found Jordan Ellenburg in the end zone with a touchdown pass to put Knox Central up 6-0. Greg Phillips added the extra point to make the score 7-0 with 8:05 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers rushed for 205 yards in the game dominating the line of scrimmage in the first half. Knox Central also held Madison Southern to only 26 yards of total offense in the first half.

"We worked that all week. We thought we could run the football and we did," Knox Central coach Wayne Mills said. "It is hard to put in words where we lost this one at. It's a tough one to lose and I hate to lose it."

Even though the Panthers dominated the line of scrimmage, time of possession, and all statistical categories in the first half they still only led 13-6 at halftime. With less than ten minutes to play in the second quarter, the Panthers were faced with a fourth-and-11 at the Madison Southern 39-yard line.

Knox Central attempted a fake punt and tried snapping the ball directly to Brandon Tolliver. Tolliver never got control of the snap and it resulted in a fumble on the play. The Eagles' Ben Cooper picked up the ball and scampered for a 55-yard touchdown return. The conversion failed leaving the score 7-6 with 9:25 left in the second quarter.

Knox Central answered with a 15-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Tolliver. The extra point was blocked making the score 13-6 with 2:31 left in the quarter.

Knox Central was 1-for-3 on extra points in the game.

Knox Central outgained Madison Southern 355 yards to 168 yards in total offense for the game. The Eagles managed to escape with the win by taking over the momentum in the second half.

The Panthers looked like they may have sealed the win about midway through the third quarter when six penalties by Madison Southern gave them first and goal from the four-yard line.

Knox Central scored on third and goal on a quarterback keeper by Smith from the three yard line resulted in a touchdown with 5:02 in the third. The extra point was no good leaving the score at 19-6.