For the first time in a long time, the Knoxville ground game was the key to the game as the Panthers rolled up 188 yards rushing to blow past Perry on Friday night 35-6 heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The Panthers started in the first quarter dictating the play, marching down the field on the first possession to score on a ten yard Brenden Woolsey touchdown. The Panthers added a Koby Higginbotham two yard run and TaShawn Conner 13 yard run to make it 21-0 which would be the halftime score. No one scored in the third quarter but the Panthers nailed the door shut with scores from Cael Irving and Connor Willoughby. Perry would get a late score to stop the running clock in the fourth quarter. Knoxville Coach Matt Dunkin was happy with the win, but happier still the running game finally got going.

Dunkin: “I love to see us run the ball and control the line of scrimmage. It was great to see our linemen do that after a great week of practice and our backs ran hard as well.”

Woolsey ran for 123 yards on 14 carries and threw for 124 yards and a touchdown for 245 yards of total offense. TaShawn Conner had 82 yards of total offense on 69 yards receiving and 13 yards on the ground. Knoxville is now 4-4 on the season and 1-3 in the district and will conclude its season on Friday against Harlan.