HINDMAN — One win away from a school record for victories last fall with a 7-4 mark, the Knott Central Patriots appear well on their way to reaching or exceeding that mark in 2025 after opening the season Friday with a 50-0 rout of visiting Harlan. Knott dominated in every phase of the game against a rebuilding Harlan squad that turned the ball over four times and didn’t record a first down until midway through the fourth quarter.
Knott Central coach Randall Mullins was happy with his team’s performance and said he likes the Patriots’ chances when someone asked after a discussion at midfield with his team if this year’s squad could top last year’s.
“I wouldn’t doubt it. We just have to keep getting better every game. No matter if it’s a one-point win or 30-point win we have to learn from our mistakes and improve,” he said. “There is a possibility we could break that school record, and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Five Patriots reached the end zone in the win, showing a balanced attack on offense that has been rare through the years for the program.
“We have really good kids and athletes from sideline to sideline. We’re very blessed in that aspect, and we just have to stay healthy,” Mullins said.
For a Harlan team that was basically wiped out by graduation last spring after a 2-9 campaign, the game illustrated the Dragons’ lack of experience. The Dragons gave up two touchdowns due to blocked punts and three others on balls that their defensive backs deflected. Two Harlan interceptions were also turned into touchdowns.
“Like I said before, there’s going to growing pains with such a young group,” Harlan coach Brian Williams said. “My whole deal coming out of this game was to compete to the end, and we kept challenging them to do that. We had more mistakes than normal, even for a first game.”
Knott scored on its first five possessions, beginning with a 50-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Wilkinson on the Patriots’ second offensive play with 9:43 left in the opening quarter. Michael Gibson had intercepted a Elijah Caudill pass two plays earlier. Parker Settles hit the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
A Shane Gibson interception on the Harlan 34 set up Gibson for a scoring run on the next play. Settles missed the extra point but Knott led 13-0 with 7:46 to play in the first quarter.
Zeke Hurley recovered a blocked punt on the Harlan 15 to set up a three-play scoring drive capped by Hurley’s 5-yard TD run with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Napier found Chance Amburgey for the two-point conversion and a 21-0 lead.
Napier found Amburgey on a 27-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-14 play to open the second quarter. The ball was deflected by a Harlan defender into Amburgey’s hands. Settles’ kick pushed the lead to 28-0 with 11:52 to play in the first half.
After stopping Harlan on downs, Knott was in business again for a three-play drive that featured an 18-yard pass from Carson Hall to Gibson, a 12-yard run by Everage and a 16-yard TD pass to Peyson Dials on another deflection. Mason Hampton’s two-point conversion run started a running clock with 8:26 to play in the half.
Boss Bryson boomed a 62-yard punt on the next to last play of the first half.
Knott drove 53 yards in five plays to open the third quarter, ending with another Hall to Dial pass on a deflection that turned into a 28-yard touchdown. Amburgey’s two-point conversion run stretched the Patriots’ lead to 44-0.
Wilkinson closed the scoring when he broke through to block a Bryson punt and went 15 yards for a touchdown with 10:20 to play.
The Dragons ran out the clock on a six-play drive that featured an 11-yard run by Caudill for the Dragons’ only first down. Hunter Brock, a junior, added four carries in his first high school action.
Harlan (0-1) returns to action Sept. 5 at Morgan County. Knott Central (1-0) plays at Jackson County on Friday.