Knox, Megli run wild

Prairie Fire rush for 314 yards as new offense makes debut

Sunday, September 3, 2006

By NATHAN LINDQUIST

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - As Kevin Megli broke through the middle of the line of scrimmage and scrambled for daylight, he wasn't thinking about juking the linebacker at the 25-yard-line. He wasn't thinking about turning up the left sideline and outrunning the defensive backs. He wasn't thinking anything at all - he just ran.

Megli's 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter put the game out of reach and gave Knox College a 20-0 lead that it would not relinquish. As he sidestepped his initial defender, Megli said instincts took over and he let the rush of the open field carry him.

"It's weird. When I play football, I never really think," Megli said. "So when I get out in the open, I just run. There's no feeling like it when you get out in the open and all you see is just grass and nothing else. That's a pretty nice feeling."

Knox College used its new option offense to run for 314 yards and the defense shut out visiting Eureka College in the Prairie Fire's season-opening 23-0 victory Saturday.

Knox head coach Andy Gibbons' switch to the option meant his team had only three weeks of camp to learn the new offensive system. But Knox's offensive line opened holes for Megli and fullback Aaron Willits, who pounded the youthful Eureka defense for 240 yards on 27 carries.

Willits said he didn't know what to expect and was a little wary of a brand new offensive system at first. But not after Saturday's performance

"We looked good," Willits said. "Coming off three weeks of camp, we couldn't have asked for a better effort out of everybody. Good teams improve the most from week one to week two, so we need to keep working hard."

Knox's offense staked the team to a quick lead as quarterback Logan Schroeder ran in a touchdown from 44 yards out on the second offensive play of the game. The Prairie Fire followed the theme of pounding the middle of the defensive line with Megli and Willits, eventually wearing down Eureka to allow big gainers.

With 5:46 remaining in the second quarter, Megli caught a pitch to the right side, stepped to the inside of the field and avoided defenders for a 13-yard touchdown run. Megli struck again at the 10:55 mark in the third quarter with his 80-yard touchdown run to run the score to 20-0.

Kicker Kevin Malone closed out the scoring at 23-0 with a 26-yard field goal with three minutes left in the game.

Meanwhile on the defensive side, the Knox line kept Eureka quarterback Shaun Manning on the run most of the game, totalling four sacks and two interceptions. Defensive end Jaran Rutledge was constantly in the backfield on Manning's drop backs and deflected four passes on the day.

As a unit, the Knox defense allowed only 204 total yards and forced Eureka into converting only 2-of-14 third-down conversion attempts.

The defensive effort allowed Knox to have excellent field position the entire game as the Prairie Fire drove into Eureka territory multiple times. However, Knox was 0-for-12 in its third-down conversions, an aspect coach Gibbons said would need to be addressed.

"In the past, 120 yards on the ground would be a success," Gibbons said. "We just need to iron some things out. We drove the ball and we didn't always get the points we needed to get."

But for the first game of the season, Gibbons was impressed by his team's effort and is confident the offense will continue to develop.

"I'm really proud of the guys, especially the seniors," Gibbons said. "You spend all year preparing for week one. It wasn't pretty but we got it done. Whenever you're trying a new offense like this, you want to establish the run and I think we did that pretty well today."