Undisciplined play leads to 2nd half collapse for St. Andrews in loss to Kentucky Christian

LAURINBURG — Most coaches will explain how important discipline is to win football games. The St. Andrews Knights football team learned that lesson in their matchup against the Kentucky Christian Knights on Saturday.

After leading 15-6 at halftime, St. Andrews allowed 12 third-quarter points to fall behind Kentucky Christian. Offensive struggles were also detrimental to St. Andrews in the second half, which led to them going for a fourth-and-1 from the Kentucky Christian 43-yard line with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, a snap infraction penalty was called on center Quaylin McZeke, which moved the ball back five yards.

St. Andrews didn’t convert the fourth down, and Kentucky Christian ran the clock out to win 18-15 in the “Battle of the Knights” rivalry game.

“We’ve got to be more disciplined than that,” St. Andrews head coach Bob Curtin said after the game. “I don’t blame that on the center, but he’s a two-year starter now. And we’ve got to look out for things like that. We were getting away with it all game. And finally, the refs just called us on it. But that one play, you don’t lay the game at his feet. He played a heck of a game. We all made mistakes.”

Coming out of halftime, St. Andrews (0-8, 0-4 Appalachian Athletic Conference) stopped Kentucky Christian (1-7, 0-3 AAC) for a three-and-out, and linebacker John Brown partially blocked the following punt to give St. Andrews the ball on their 27-yard line. But on the first play of the drive, running back Anterius Carpenter fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Kentucky Christian defensive lineman Yuriel Carrero at the St. Andrews’ 20-yard line.

Kentucky Christian scored on the possession with a 9-yard run by RB Jamari Wilson, but the extra-point attempt was no good after it went below the crossbar, making it 15-12 with St. Andrews still in front.

Kentucky Christian’s third TD of the game came with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter on a 3-yard rush by quarterback Baden Gillispie. That drive started with favorable field position for Kentucky Christian at St. Andrews’ 29-yard line after three consecutive penalties called on St. Andrews on fourth down moved them back nearly 20 yards.

“They (Kentucky Christian) had field position on their side,” Curtin said. “We gave them incredible field position. We asked a lot of our defense today, and we put them in too much of a bind that it wasn’t fair to them. We’ve got to give them good field position.”

One phase that floundered mightily for St. Andrews was special teams — particularly when they punted the ball.

Punter Diego Barahona had a punt blocked by LB Jacob Wright with 7:38 to go in the second quarter, which LB Derrick Houston returned for a 30-yard score with a failed two-point conversion attempt. He had another one hindered in the fourth quarter by defensive back Draper Aldridge II that gave Kentucky Christian the ball at St. Andrews’ 20-yard line, although the drive ended in no points.

“You can’t take three-step drops and kick the ball in college,” Curtin said. “And the snap’s not getting back there fast enough. And our (punter’s) not getting the ball off. You’re not going to get a good punt.”

Houston’s TD came almost six-and-a-half minutes after QB Darius Holly found wide receiver Tyquan Watson for a 7-yard TD pass, and WR Juwan Lyons ran in the conversion for two points to put St. Andrews on the board first 8-0.

St. Andrews added to their lead with 53 seconds remaining in the first half with a 3-yard rushing TD from Carpenter to make the score 15-6. That drive started at Kentucky Christian’s 33-yard line following a fumble by Kentucky Christian WR Davari Wilson that was stripped by LB Tierell Milligan and recovered by LB Josh Henderson.

“(In) the first half, we had two out of three phases working; we had our offense and our defense clicking,” Curtin said. “(In the) second half, we had only our defense clicking.”

Holly was 9-of-19 passing for 104 yards for St. Andrews. Carpenter had 13 carries for 29 yards and two receptions for four yards; and Lyons had four catches for 78 yards. On defense, DB Xazavion Simpson had seven tackles (five solo), a tackle for loss, and an interception; Milligan had four tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss, and a pass breakup; and DB Lavarius Heath-Lewis had five tackles (all solo), a tackle for loss, and an interception.

Gillispie was 6-of-16 passing and had 26 rushing yards for Kentucky Christian. Wilson had 27 carries for 92 yards; Morris had one catch for 25 yards and two rushes for 27 yards; and WR Braden Long had three grabs for 23 yards. DL Trent Hill led the Kentucky Christian defense with eight tackles (five solo) and two tackles for loss, and Wright had six tackles (three solo) and a tackle for loss.

Kentucky Christian and St. Andrews scored a season-high in points on Saturday. However, Kentucky Christian had 228 yards of total offense, while St. Andrews had just 162 yards. St. Andrews recorded only 19 passing plays compared to 34 rushing plays and had nearly double the amount of production through the air.

It raised the question of whether offensive playcalling is something Curtin wants to address. But he said that having a lack of players at certain positions has affected the plays more than the call itself.

“I have no problem with that (offensive playcalling),” Curtin said. “I’ve already changed it up once. This has given us the most productivity. We’ve just got to execute. And it might be a (lack) of depth. We’ve got five, six O-linemen; that’s it. And so, we’ve got to be more disciplined with regard to our playcalling from the box and more disciplined when we run our plays. We can’t be burning our guys out.”

And with Cumberland (Tenn.) coming to Laurinburg next weekend for a nonconference showdown, Curtin will look to have his players rested, reset, and committed to the rest of the season leading up to it.

“We’ve got to tighten down,” Curtin said. “This is a time where people look at themselves, and they go, What am I doing this for now? You’re doing it because you love the game. You love the game more than you love your personal success, how you look, or how you feel. You love the game. That’s what we’re looking for. And so, every one of those 60 or 70 recruits that came out here, that’s the only message I have for them. We’re down. There’s nowhere else to go. We are literally now probably identified as the worst team in the country. That’s how far we’ve fallen. That’s where we go. We put together teams and guys that really love playing football, not just trying to find a home so they can say they’re playing college football.”