The Knights took a 6-0 lead when freshman Anthony Sykora punched the ball in from 4 yards out with 1:22 left in the first half. Staples took the lead on the first drive of the 2nd half with a 71 yard TD run by Sivert Klefsaas, who also ran in the 2 point conversion. WCA-A regained the lead at 12-8 with 16 yard run by Sykora. The 4th quarter was a back and forth affair but Staples was able to score with 44 seconds left on a 2-yard run by Cade Schmidt and a two-point conversion run by Klefsaas to secure the win.

“This one stings, we played with a ton of heart and battled through some injuries but came up just short,” said Knights Head Coach Nate Wood. “Staples deserves a ton of credit, they battled hard also and did what they needed to do. This was a great football game.”

Staples-Motley had 260 yards of offense, 215 of which came on the ground.  Klefsaas led them with 120 rushing yards on 15 carries and Schmidt finished with 71 yards on 23 attempts.  Quarterback Max Strickland hit on 4-of-8 passes for 45 yards.  Garrett Carlson had 2 catches for 26 yards.

The Knights compiled 190 yards of offense, 152 rushing and 38 passing.  Jaden Norby was 4-for-11 throwing the ball for 38 yards.  Tate Christenson caught 3 passes for 34 yards.  Norby led the team in rushing yardage with 52 yards on 13 carries.  Jordan Lohse had 42 yards on 10 attempts and Sykora finished with 36 yards on 15 carries.  Defensive leaders were Connor Nadgwick and Colton Lindquist with 10 and 8 tackles, respectively.