Knights shut out Cubs in Aurora
The South Dearborn Knights broke in their new field on Friday night when they hosted the Madison Cubs, shellacking the team from Jefferson County 41-0.
South Dearborn went up 14-0 after two Adam Kunkel to Hudson Shackelford passes that both found the end zone. Taytum Barker connected on both extra-point attempts and the score was 14-0 through one quarter of play.
Kunkel added two more touchdown passes in the second quarter; the senior connected with classmate Reid Thornton, and then hit his tight end Ryan Richard for a score. Barker added two more PATs and the Knights went into the half up 28-0.
Kunkel found his tight end again in the third quarter and connected on a 23-yard score, his fifth of the evening. Not to be outdone, the Knights’ defense added an interception that Brady Ballart returned for a 39-yard score and a Barker extra point put SD up 41-0. After the running clock, the Knights pulled out the victory to move to 1-1 on the season.
Kunkel went ham on the Cubs’ defense, connecting on 17 of his 22 attempts for 263 yards and five scores. He now has 488 yards and eight passing touchdowns to start the season.
Junior Carson Cheek saw a bulk of the carries (14) for SD, gaining 54 yards that included a 19-yard pickup. Shackelford led the receiving corps, finishing with four receptions for 89 yards and scoring twice, Richard caught five Kunkel passes and took them for 83 yards and two scores. Olli Babcock finished with four receptions for 40 yards and the rest of the Knights’ receivers hauled in five catches for 61 yards.
The SD defense was led by Brayden Johnson’s seven tackles. Ballart and Colton McClure each had an interception, and junior Caden Thompson had two tackles and a fumble recovery for the Knights in the shutout. SD finished with 350 yards of offense while the defense held the Cubs to just 52 and forced three turnovers.
The Knights will host Batesville (2-0) to start EIAC play this Friday. The Bulldogs shut out Milan this week 21-0 to earn their second win on the season.