Kirt Manion
kmanion@cherryroad.com

Lourdes keeps finding ways to rally and, with a Friday, Nov. 8 win over Plainview, the Knights are heading to the semifinals, somewhere the team hasn’t been to since 2006.

Come backs have been key for the Knights this year. Coach Jon Borer cited earlier season rallies against Thayer Central and Freeman to go along with last week’s playoff win at Dundy County Stratton and this week’s win over Plainview.

“It’s been an all-year type of deal,” said Coach Borer. “I am proud of these guys. I am proud of how they fought.”

Just as essential as the go-ahead score with 57 seconds left in the game, the Knights’ late first half touchdown pass was a had-to-have conversion.

“We put in a concept last week, so we ran it a little different tonight and Blue made a great play. Callen made a nice throw,” Borer said.

The Knights’ defense was clutch in stepping up to get stops in the second half, although it might have been a bit frustrating that the Knights were not able to get the lead sooner and had to rely on that late game score.

Some of the problems were mistakes by Lourdes, a missed block or a fumble.

Give credit to the visitors though.

“They are a very good football team,” Borer said. “You just keep fighting. I told the guys at half, ‘We are beating ourselves. If we take care of business, we will be OK,’” Borer recalled.

After the Knights got their late game score, it seemed right for the last tackle to be made by Knight standout senior and KMA Player of the Game Robert Honeysuckle. After missing much of the season, Honeysuckle returned to the line up last week at Dundy County Stratton. The big tackle on the final play is a senior memory for sure.

“I am so proud of his resilience,” Borer said of Honeysuckle. “When he was hurt, he was still such a good teammate. He showed up every day and worked his tail off. I am so happy to have him back and he played really well tonight. He helps complete our team.”

Honeysuckle and his teammates still have work to do this season as the semifinals are next.

“Hats off to Plainview. They played one heck of a game,” said Borer. “I am excited to move on to the next round.”

Robert Honeysuckle

A long-awaited return to the home field and a quarterfinal victory were enough get senior stalwart Robert Honeysuckle excited. That last tackle just felt extra nice.

“I saw the wide out run a dig to the inside. I saw the dig, I saw the lateral and I just tackled him,” Honeysuckle said. “It feels great to be back and I am proud of everyone on our team.”

Rallying from a deficit, especially against a playoff caliber opponent, is a tough ask, but Honeysuckle and his teammates were not about to back down.

“We all just said, ‘We’ve been here, and we are all fighters. We’re all dawgs. So, we are just going to fight until we can’t fight anymore.’”