Oakland-Craig wins season opener at Malcolm

The Oakland-Craig Knights won their season opener Friday night, 34-3 at Malcolm.

Oakland-Craig led 6-3 after one. The Knights scored 8 points in each the second and third quarters, and led 14-3 at halftime, and 22-3 at the end of three.

Oakland-Craig shutout the Clippers 12-0 in the fourth quarter to make up the final score.

Hoss Smith had 161 yards rushing on 28 carries, and scored four touchdowns.

Head Coach Joe Anderson says the Knights have come to expect that type of effort from him. "You're going to get a great effort from Hoss every night. He is a very physical back, with the speed to make big plays as well. He is one of our main leaders out there and it is important to keep him on the field on both sides of the ball."

Anderson adds it was a complete team effort all the way around. "First of all we played very well on the defensive side of the ball. We held them to 3 first downs (all on the first drive) and 80 total yards. Offensively we controlled the line of scrimmage, and our backs really ran hard all night. I thought Ben Smith really gave us a big lift (11 carries for 83 yards). It gave us another weapon out there besides Hoss. Evan Reinert also played very solid in his first start at QB. He made good decisions for us all night long."

Reinert finished 9-14 passing with 90 yards and a touchdown.

Oakland-Craig amassed 384 yards of offense, including 294 on the ground.

It was simply another outstanding performance from the Knights.

Anderson says it was a good team win. "It was a very good win for us on Friday night. Our guys really came out and played physical for 4 quarters. This was a big game for us, as there was a lot of guys out there starting for the first time. They gained a lot of confidence throughout the night."

Oakland-Craig (1-0) hosts Battle Creek (1-0) Friday night in a rematch of last year's Class C-2 State Semifinals.

The Braves downed Yutan 20-14 at home Friday night.

Anderson says his squad is going to have to play a complete game to knock off Battle Creek. "It is going to take a great effort to beat Battle Creek. They are a very big, physical team that is fundamentally sound. They have great athletes across the board. I am probably most impressed with their defense. They are so physical and play really fast and downhill. Our line is really going to have to step up their game this week. We will need to create creases for Hoss and Ben to run through. We will also need to play a really clean game. We will have to limit our penalties and we must win the turnover battle."

The Knights downed the Braves 27-14 in last year's state semifinals. Anderson says his team is ready to go at it with Battle Creek again. "Our guys are excited for the challenge. They know Battle Creek is one of the best teams in the state. We are looking forward to see if we can play at that level again this year."

This is a battle of two heavyweights. Two of the better teams in Class C-2 will be going at it Friday night in Oakland.

I really think the Knights have a good chance to knock off the Braves again.

I feel like Oakland-Craig is just as strong if not stronger than they were a year ago, and I really don't know about Battle Creek.

Yutan is a really good team, but the Braves didn't blow them out of the water like they did teams last year.

With that said, Battle Creek is still a quality team and this should be another classic battle between two outstanding programs.