A dominating second half turned into a game of survival for the Knoxville Football Squad on Friday night as the Panthers held on and escaped a late two point conversion attempt by Keokuk to win 27-26 as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. Knoxville would take the early lead converting a fumble on the opening play from scrimmage into a touchdown when Mike Hudson hauled in a 32 yard strike from Kieren Nichols. Keokuk would score twice to make it 14-6 before Nichols would scamper in from 25 yards out and the missed two point conversion would make the score 14-12 Chiefs. A score by Keokuk with 25 seconds left in the first half made it 20-12 and Keokuk seemed to have all the momentum on its side when Knoxville unleashed Gavin Montalvo in the second half as he scored two touchdowns and Knoxville found itself on top 27-20. The Panthers looked to have had the game wrapped up but the Chiefs had one more drive and cashed in with a score but a missed two point conversion with 42 seconds left sealed the win. Knoxville Coach Eric Kellar told KRLS Sports the guys were motivated to come out and have a good performance after last week’s disappointment…

Kellar:
“They were mad, which was great, they weren’t singing on the bus, they were made and upset last week and they didn’t like that feeling so it was good to get that under their belt and have a great week of practice.”

Montalvo rushed 21 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns while Nichols was 4/12 for 67 yards and a touchdown. Knoxville is now 1-1 on the season and will host Pella next Friday.