St. John TIgers win big over Knights

The St. John Tigers felt the need for a little redemption after their week one loss when they traveled to Victoria. The Knights felt the need for a some condolences after a 40-28 spanking.

“After our season opener loss against Otis (Bison) our kids new they let one get a way from us,” said head coach Nick Garcia. “Not being satisfied they couldn’t wait to get to Victoria. This is a very competitive group of young men.”

St. John’s offense was slow starting against Otis-Bison on week one, but against Victoria the squad started hitting on all cylinders with 141 yards passing and just under 80 yards rushing.

A 23-yard pass from Spencer Nusser to Francisco Calleros started the scoring for the Tigers, but much like week one, getting in for the extra point began a theme.

Victoria answered back with a pass from quarterback Sam Ottley to Noah Dreiling. The Knights converted on the point after attempt giving them a slim two-point margin early on, but the Tigers would soon turn that tale.

A 12-yard pass from Nusser to Dean Wade and another for 33 yards from Nusser to Wade gave the Tigers a 10-point lead with both point after attempts failing.

With the passing game working, the Tigers were able to find some running room on the ground as Ethan Long took a seven-yard carry into the end zone putting the Tigers up by 16.

Victoria hit the scoreboard again with Ottley finding Dreiling on a 68-yard pass. Their point after attempt failed cutting the Tigers’ lead to 8.

A seven-yard run by Long gave the Tiger’s another six and a break in the point after curse picking up the extra two on a short pass play.

While the offense did their job adding points to the scoreboard, the Tigers defense worked to stop the attacking Knights.

“When you allow a team only 81 yards rushing you are doing something right,” Garcia said. “I thought we did a nice job getting to the ball carrier and making tackles. We let a few tackles get away the week before but this is a new week. When you have eight guys making six or more tackles that is a good team effort.

“Our offensive line did a much better job on their blocking assignments as we rushed for 237 yards. Schuyler and Ethan had some really nice runs and ran hard down field. Logan, Austin and Andrew did a nice job getting to their blocks.

Garcia stated it was good team effort and showed the team is working out some of the kinks from week one.

“Cisco (Calleros), Dean (Wade) and Preston Nemec did a good job at the end. I was very proud of this group and hope we can continue to play at a high level.’

The Tigers host Central Plains in their first home game of the season. Central Plains is 1-1 after a win over Stafford and a 40-14 loss to Otis Bison. Kick off is scheduled for 7 p.m.