Early struggles hamper Knights in opener against Warriors

LAURINBURG — In a team’s first game of the season, there will likely be mistakes and occasional mental mishaps as players and coaches adjust to what the next few months will be like.

For the St. Andrews Knights, they experienced plenty of those in their opener against the Webber International (Fla.) Warriors Saturday.

Turnovers, penalties — and the weather — got the best of the Knights as the Warriors dominated from start to finish and toppled St. Andrews 49-14 in a Week 0 contest.

“We’ve just got to go back, and we’ve got to get a little bit more disciplined,” St. Andrews head coach Bob Curtin said. “We’ve got to really believe in the program and not in the individual. If we don’t tighten down and do things together as a unit, we’re just going to continue to flounder, and that’s not what these young men want; they want to be successful.”

St. Andrews (0-1) got off on the wrong foot early after Webber International (1-0) scored on their opening drive with a 15-yard reception by wide receiver Reynald Fleurival.

The self-inflicted blunders from the Knights started with 6:37 left in the first quarter when the snap on a punt went over Diego Barahona’s head and was recovered in the end zone by Webber International’s David Augustin for a TD. On the PAT, the Knights were called for roughing the kicker, which was one of seven penalties on the day.

“It was a lack of focus, lack of discipline, lack of execution,” Curtin said. “In this game at this level, you have to be extremely precise, and everybody has to be moving in unison.”

The Warriors went up 21-0 after quarterback Blake Birchler found tight end Tyler Romano for a 31-yard score with just over three minutes left in the first.

After starting with two three-and-outs, the Knights moved the ball into Warrior territory before running back Anterius Carpenter fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Webber International’s Khristian Hill at the 42-yard line. While the Warriors punted on that drive, the Knights gifted the ball right back after QB Jalen Dodd’s pass intended for WR Tyler Gates went off his fingertips and was intercepted by Webber International’s Warren Laguerre.

The Warriors turned the possession into six points with a TD catch by WR Antonio Dawson from 10 yards out and led 28-0 just a minute into the second quarter.

St. Andrews scored their first points of the game with 6:32 left in the first half on a QB sneak by Dodd at the 1-yard line to make it 28-7. However, Webber International added to their lead when RB Terry Weems found the end zone from 2 yards away with 0:09 to go until halftime.

The Warriors seemed to be on their way to scoring another TD just over three minutes into the second half, but a lightning delay halted them at the Knights’ 5-yard line. The pause in action lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours before both teams retook the field, but instead of the last two quarters each lasting 15 minutes long, they were decreased to eight minutes, which left 4:51 left in the third quarter.

Despite the lopsided score, Curtin wanted to continue playing the game to test his team’s mentality.

“I just told them, ‘Hey, this is about heart and determination. Who has the heart to come back here after a two-hour break and then play football? Who has the determination to give it everything they have?’,” Curtin said. “Because most people, when they have that type of break and they’re down 35-7, they’ve packed it in mentally; they don’t want to go back out. I wanted to come back out here, because I wanted to see who wants to play, who wants to do it the Knight way.”

Once the game resumed, Webber International only needed one play to increase their lead to 42-7 on a 4-yard run by RB Jordan Griffin.

The Knights scored their last TD on a 3-yard scamper by RB Nahjiir Seagraves with 6:02 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Warriors added the final touches on the game with a 2-yard TD from QB Trent Grotjan to TE Avery Giddins with 1:27 to go.

Dodd went 12 of 20 for 159 yards for St. Andrews. Gates and Carpenter each had 23 yards rushing, and WR Aronson Cook had eight catches for 106 yards.

Curtin felt that Dodd was solid in his first start.

“Jalen did well in his first game out,” Curtin said. “He’s like the rest of us, a lot to learn, but he did well. He commanded the offense. We’ve just got to execute. I’m definitely happy with Jalen’s performance.”

Birchler finished 10 of 15 for 137 yards for Webber International. WR Asaivien McWilliams had a team-high 66 receiving yards on just two grabs.

Although it was a less-than-ideal performance by his team, Curtin still had plenty of good things to take away from their game against the Warriors.

“I saw a lot of great things out here,” Curtin said. “(I) saw a lot of positive momentum; saw a lot of great individual leaders taking accountability for the entire program. We’re going to go back as coaches to the drawing board. We’ll make a couple of adjustments, and we’re going to do it the Knight way. We’re going to get on track. It might take us a little bit, but we’re going to get there.”

The Knights host No. 9 Lindsey Wilson on Sep. 2 at noon.