The King’s Academy Knights, led by senior quarterback Jose Plancarte, traveled to Woodside for a tight game, winning 9-6 over the Wildcats in the final minutes on a 25-yard field goal by Luke Vereschagin with five minutes left.
Pass completions propelled the Knights (1-5, 1-0 PAL-Ocean) to the upset victory against Woodside (2-4, 0-2), but it was the clutch boot that won the game.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats were first on the board with a 6-yard scoring run by junior running back Tommy Cook, giving Woodside a 6-0 lead.
After allowing the Wildcats to score, the Knights stiffened on defense.
“Defensively, we just played very well. We stopped their run. We stopped their sweep. They really couldn’t pass on us,” said King’s Academy coach William Gittens.
With injury dragging down Woodside, the Knights knew they had a fair shot at a win.
“We knew that we had a better chance when (quarterback Joshua Holman) didn’t suit up tonight," Gittens said. "And so (Titus Uelese) came in as second quarterback and that was a little better because he doesn’t run as well."
However, after the end of the third quarter, the Knights were still down. Then the offense stepped to the fore.
Plancarte ran 25 yards for the Knights' first touchdown of the game, and second on the season. The game was now tied 6-6.
Plancarte was integral to the Knights' success, completing 9-of-20 passes for 145 yards, while Woodside struggle in the passing game.
“Our quarterback Jose made some plays when he needed to make some plays and our receivers caught it when we had to,” said Gittens.
Even though the Knights earned the win, they had a tough time up front on offense.
“The first half we weren’t blocking too well, but we came out the second half and just beat them,” said Plancarte.
“Blocking before the extra points and blocking for the punt -- we need to (shore) that up. Early in the game we couldn’t block our inside run, and we should be able to block our inside run because we have all seniors (on the line),” said Gittens. “I’m just very proud of our kids for sticking in there and fighting. All year we’ve been on the tail end and just getting hammered. We have a very young team and a very small team, but these guys come to practice every week and their heads aren’t down and they work to try to get better."
Up next, the Knights take on visiting Menlo (5-1 overall, 1-1 league) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Wildcats travel to Sequoia (5-1 overall 1-1 league) for the Redwood City, also a 7 p.m. game.
