On Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in the UIL six-man 1AD1 championship game, it was the Cross Knittel show. Knittel rushed for 249 yards on 11 carries and 4 touchdowns, passed for 62 yards and another touchdown on his only attempt of the game as the Sterling City Eagles bested the May Tigers 68 to 22.
After May scored on a Blake Harrell to Kaden Halk pass with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter to tie the score at 14, the Eagles reeled off 20 consecutive points to push their lead to 34-14.
May scored again on a Harrell to Halk pass to cut the lead to 36-20. The Eagles scored the next 34 points and went into the locker room at halftime with a 60-22 lead.
Sterling City received the opening kick of the second half and quickly scored on a 29-yard pass from Hudson Cox to Damian Calderon. With the two-point kick by Raul Sanchez the Eagles led 68-22 and the game was halted in accordance with the 45-point mercy rule.
This was the first title in Sterling City history.
Chance Ferguson (9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) was named the defensive MVP.
Cross Knitell was named the offensive MVP.
May HFC Craig Steel on Cross Knittel: “We dealt with him once before this year. We didn’t stop him by any means because he’s too good to stop. I thought we controlled him. This afternoon there was no control. He beat us a couple of times early in the game. I think our kids got a little tentative and didn’t attack hard enough… He’s a very, very quick, fast, and smart as you can tell.”
Sterling City HFC on the Eagles this year: “I’m just so proud these kids and how hard they worked all year. From the first day of 2-a-days until now, they’ve done a tremendous job and we’ve gotten better every week and that’s what got us to this point.”
Sterling City HFC on Cross Knittel: “It’s unbelievable. He’s been our workhorse all year long. He’s done a tremendous job. His offensive line has done a great job opening holes and he hits it so fast that we don’t have to block for a long time which helps out a lot… He’s just a tremendous kid. I’m so proud of him and his effort today.”
While field level access was limited, Antony Blalock did manage to capture these pictures from the stands.
