Knights dig hole early, lose to McComb

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — Not again.

For the second straight season against McComb, an early Crestview injury seemed to swing momentum in favor of the Panthers, as McComb rolled to a 31-14 victory on Friday night. 

Last year, quarterback Bryson Penix went down on the first play of the game against the Panthers and Friday night, Braxton Leeth, who rushed for 168 yards and five touchdowns in the opener against Parkway, went down with an ankle injury on the first drive of the game. He was helped off the field and did not return and finished with four carries for 16 yards.

“Obviously Braxton means so much to our team because he works so hard,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said. “He’s such a workhorse and to see him go down there – you could definitely tell the fans kind of got out of it and our kids got out of it there.”

Harting added Leeth will be evaluated over the weekend.

One play after Leeth went down, the Knights were stopped on downs on fourth and one at McComb six yard line. From there, the Panthers drove 94 yards in six plays and scored on a 62-yard pass from Grady Schroeder to Hayden Ebright. The PAT by Luke Kern gave McComb a 7-0 lead and things only got worse for Crestview from there.

Crestview’s next possession ended with a lost fumble, which McComb turned into a 30-yard field goal by Kern with 1:57 left in the quarter. The Knights went three and out on the next series and the Panthers stunned the hosts with a 68-yard touchdown bomb from Schroeder to Ebright as the quarter ended, giving McComb a 17-0 lead. Schroeder attempted just seven passes in the game and completed three for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

The Knights opened the quarter with a six play drive that ended on downs on a questionable call at the Panther 25. Wren Sheets appeared to catch a touchdown pass from Bryson Penix in the right corner of the end zone but the officials ruled him out of bounds. After that, McComb jumped into the full house T and put together a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 10 yard touchdown run by Schroeder. All 14 plays were on the ground and the drive took nearly seven minutes off the clock and gave McComb a 24-0 lead.

In the third quarter, Schroeder was sacked and lost a fumble that gave Crestview the ball at the Knight 39. Penix led the Knights on a nine play drive and scored on a three yard keeper. However, McComb answered with a touchdown drive what was capped off on a five yard run by Brayden Shoop, who went on to finish with 108 yards on 26 carries. As a team, the Panthers ran for 239 yards and had 392 yards of total offense.

“I thought our defense played really well at times,” Harting said.

Crestview’s final score came on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Penix to Hayden Perrott. Penix finished the game 20-of-31 for 211 yards, with 11 completions going to Isaiah Barton for 127 yards. Sheets had two receptions for 39 yards and Perrott had a pair of receptions for 21 yards.

“It showed a lot of heart from the kids that they didn’t just roll over and turn it into a running clock, “Harting said. “Instead they fought back and made a game out of it.

 As a team, the Knights were able muster just 39 yards on the ground.

The game was the final one of two-year contract between Crestview and McComb. Next year, the Knights will host Marion Local in Week No. 2, then will play Minster in 2026-2027.

Crestview will host Wayne Trace on Friday night. The Raiders (0-2) lost a heartbreaker to Spencerville 28-27.

Scoring summary

First quarter

M: 5:49 – Grady Schroeder 62-yard pass to Hayden Ebright (Luke Kern kick)

M: 1:57 – Luke Kern 30-yard field goal

M: 0:00 – Grady Schroeder 68-yard pass to Hayden Ebright (Luke Kern kick)

Second quarter

M: 2:39 – Grady Schroeder 10-yard run (Luke Kern kick)

Third quarter

C: 1:55 – Bryson Penix 3-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick)

Fourth quarter

M 6:52 – Brayden Shoop 4-yard run (Luke Kern kick)

C 5:25 – Bryson Penix 20-yard pass to Hayden Perrott (Hayden Perrott kick)