Patriots shut down Golden Knights
Mount View (0) vs. Independence (47)
Written: Sep 13, 2014
By JONATHAN GREENE
for the Daily Telegraph
COAL CITY — Mount View tried everything against Independence.
The Golden Knights attempted to spread the Patriots defense out with four wideouts then they sought to overpower them with a stacked backfield.
Independence's defense was ready for it all.
The Patriots limited Mount View to 57 yards of offense as they rolled to a 47-0 victory Friday night at George Covey Field.
“I thought our guys played great,” Independence head coach Chris Vicars said. “We had to battle some adversity with a few kids going down. We had to make some adjustments, but our guys stepped up.
“I thought we played really well on defense again and that's what we've been preaching. If you play well on defense, you give yourself a chance to win. Just an overall great effort from our guys.”
Independence had little trouble moving the ball with 322 yards — 280 coming on the ground.
The Golden Knights did themselves no favors with six turnovers and eight penalties for 78 yards.
“We came out and did what we wanted to the first couple drives,” said Mount View assistant coach Mike Anderson, who was acting head coach as head coach Larry Thompson was suspended this week. “We got down, guys got down and we couldn't move the ball after that. We couldn't sustain the defense. Guys started to get tired and quit on me.” The Patriots picked up their third win of the young season — they had two all of last year.
Their defense has been key as they've given up just eight points. Independence's opponents have gained a minuscule 255 yards — an average of 85 yards per game.
“Our goal is to be really good on defense each week and find a way to score enough points to win the game.”
Chris Mills and Dustin Justice led the way for the Patriots on both offense and defense.
Mills raced for 72 yards and two scores on seven carries while Justice had 48 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. The two had big plays on defense as well. Mills had a one-handed pick near the end zone and a Justice sack led to a fumble that Alex Daniels turned into six points.
Mills started the scoring with a 38-yard run following a three-and-out from Mount View.
Late in the first quarter, Alex Daniels recovered a bad pitch from the Knights. A play later Justice took a counter straight to the end zone to give Independence a 14-0 edge.
“This is the third game in a row where we've had multiple turnovers,” Anderson said. “Anytime you have multiple turnovers, it's hard to come back from that. It's deflating for the team. It's hard to get the guys going after that. We've just got to pick each other up.”
Mount View nearly had Independence stopped twice on their next drive, but the Patriots converted two big fourth down plays thanks to Ryan Brandstetter.
On fourth and inches, Brandstetter rushed up the middle for five yards and a first down. Five players later, he broke free on fourth and two for an eight-yard score.
Chris Mills had an 11-yard score for Independence in the third quarter while Chase Mills' five-yard dash in the fourth was the game's last points.
Nowlin paced Mount View's attack with 35 yards. He had a big 35-yard gain in the first half, but the Patriots defense sacked him multiple times. Chris Muncy hit Kobe Brown for a 20-yard catch for the Golden Knights only yards in the air.
Independence (3-0) visits Shady Spring Friday while Mount View (0-3) hosts Liberty (Raleigh)
At George Covey Field
Mount View.......................0 0 0 0 — 0
Independence................14 13 13 7 — 47
First Quarter
I — Chris Mills 38 rush (Alex Daniels kick good), 9:26
I — Dustin Justice 16 rush (Adam Tolliver kick good), 1:15
Second Quarter
I — Justice 9 rush (Tolliver kick blocked), 11:53
I — Ryan Brandstetter 8 rush (Tolliver kick good), 3:37
Third Quarter
I— Daniels 54 fumble recovery (Tolliver kick good), 9:05
I — Chris Mills 11 rush (Tolliver kick blocked), 3:50
Fourth Quarter
I — Chase Mills 5 rush (Tolliver kick good), 9:36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — MV: Chris Muncy 5-1, Jaedon Burress 3-0, Timothy Nowlin 12-35, Joseph Hayes 9-(-1), Quavon Valentine 1-2. I: Chris Mills 7-72-2TD, Ryan Brandstetter 10-74-TD, Andrue Hughart 7-18, Brandon Treadway 2-13, Dustin Justice 5-48-2TD, Alex Daniels 4-34, Markus Guy 2-22, Avery Swearengin 3-7, Robbie Cochran 2-(-5), Connor Gibson 1-3, Adam Tolliver 2-31, Matt McKinney 1-(-3).
PASSING — MV: Muncy 1-3-20-0-1INT, Nowlin 0-3-0-0-INT. I: Brandstetter 6-14-42-0-1INT.
RECEIVING — MV: Marlin Marrs 1-20. I: Aaron Hunt 1-12, Mills 2-7, Justice 1-4, Tolliver 1-19.
TAKEAWAYS — MV: Interception (Hayes). I: Fumble (Daniels), Interception (Mills), Interception (Hunt), Interception (Gibson).
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