Baylor rolls past Knoxville Catholic for impressive region win

Staff photo by Olivia Ross  / Caleb Hampton scores a touchdown for Baylor during Friday night's home win against Knoxville Catholic to open Division II-AAA East/Middle Region competition.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Caleb Hampton scores a touchdown for Baylor during Friday night's home win against Knoxville Catholic to open Division II-AAA East/Middle Region competition.


What was expected to be a measuring stick matchup between state-ranked Division II-AAA foes instead turned into a mercy-rule blowout for Baylor.

In the DII-AAA East/Middle Region opener for both teams Friday night, the third-ranked Red Raiders raced out to a 39-point halftime lead and dominated visiting and fourth-ranked Knoxville Catholic, 48-9.

"I'm really proud of the way we evolved tonight," Baylor first-year coach Erik Kimrey said. "We had some issues up front last week but focused on those and were able to clean up some of those things tonight."

Baylor (3-0) led 42-3 halftime after Whit Muschamp threw two touchdown passes and Amari Jefferson scored on both a 60-yard run and a 31-yard catch.

The Red Raiders scored 28 second-quarter points, including 14 in the final 1:03 on Jefferson's catch and a Dylan Crawford interception return, to ensure the mercy rule would be in effect for the second half.


Muschamp connected with Louis Vincent on a 23-yard pass just four minutes into the game to open the scoring onslaught, and after Jefferson's 60-yarder, Caleb Hampton added a 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead.

"It was good to be able to take the ball and go down and score right away and get the early momentum," Kimrey said. "Even though we had some hiccups, we were able to overcome them and our defense really played well throughout.

"Any time you have explosive plays, that's one of the categories we measure success by, and we were able to pick up several of those tonight. When you give the ball to Amari, you'll have a chance to score any time he touches it. With what he can do, we have to be able to find other ways to get him the ball."

The win avenged last year's 10-point loss at Knox Catholic, which pulled away in the second half of that matchup. The Fighting Irish came into Friday's game undefeated, having outscored their first two opponents 68-14 in the first half while averaging 438 total yards per game.

But for the third straight week, Baylor thoroughly dominated an opponent and is averaging 40 points per game during that span.

"Early success like this is good, but it can be dangerous, too," Kimrey said. "We have to handle it with maturity and realize that at the end of the day, high school football is about how you're playing in November.

"We're not where we need to be yet, but this was a big step and I'm pleased with the overall effort."

Both teams are off next week before resuming region play. Baylor visits Pope John Paul II on Sept. 16, when Knox Catholic will host McCallie.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.


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