By Clark Shanahan
GALESBURG, Illinois - The Knox Prairie Fire football team crushed the Beloit Buccaneers at the Knosher Bowl this Saturday, triumphantly finishing with a final score of 42-0. The first victory of the season for Knox, it was also head coach Aaron Willits’ first win with the Prairie Fire.
Knox’s defense proved to be a formidable match for the Buccaneers, holding them to only 35 yards in the first quarter. Conversely, after punting on their first drive, the Prairie Fire offense put together multiple lengthy touchdown drives. A Kaile Williams 18 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Eifering kicked off the scoring, and another Williams touchdown via a 2 yard run made it 14-0 early, putting the Prairie Fire in an early groove. Knox’s rushing attack was their bread and butter as per usual, gaining 346 yards and punishing Beloit’s defense. Later in the second quarter, Isaac Mora picked off the ball and set up Knox for another touchdown, this time on a 1 yard Hunter Anderson rush. Knox’s next drive also produced a touchdown, with Williams breaking off a spectacular 50 yard run that sent the sideline into a frenzy. Knox cruised to halftime up 28-0 due to their impressive performance.
After forcing a turnover on downs, the Prairie Fire produced yet another efficient touchdown drive, with Williams’ third touchdown run of the day cementing a career game for the Knox quarterback. Knox’s defense stood strong again, forcing Beloit to punt for the 5th time at that point, and this effort led to Knox’s 6th touchdown of the day thanks to another Anderson touchdown run. The Buccaneers proceeded to march down the field on their ensuing possession, only for the Prairie Fire to come down with their second interception of the day deep in their own territory. This sealed the game, as little movement occurred for either team for the remainder of the game.
"We put it all together today," said head coach Aaron Willits. "We have been building to this for awhile, with bright spots in each of our games this year. We saw some very good things last week at Chicago and finally broke out today. We will get back to work to try to put another good game together next week."
Knox looks to get their second win of the season when they travel to Grinnell to take on the Pioneers next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.