Knights Dominate Mohave In Annual Golden Shovel Game

By Lonnie Stevenson

The Lake Havasu Knights varsity football team took the roughly 60-minute bus ride north to Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse Friday night for the annual Golden Shovel game against the Mohave T-Birds.

Following them up the road was a fan base looking to turn around a three-game losing streak in the rivalry game and bring the coveted golden shovel back to Lake Havasu High School. Filling the stands with their purple shirts, custom signs and unwavering support, the fanbase made their support loud and apparent.

The emotionally charged game began with Mohave receiving the opening kick-off but a fumble recovery by junior Nick Sousa gave the offense the ball at the Mohave 33-yard line and from there, the offense quickly took over.

Senior Luke Johnson capped the first drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and the Knights would never look back.

Mohave failed to get a first down on their next possession and punted the ball to Havasu. Johnson, on the very first play of the drive, sliced through the Mohave defense and ran the ball 64 yards and into the endzone.

Again, the Knights defense contained Mohave and at the end of the first quarter, Johnson connected with fellow senior Carter Devett from 44 yards out on a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch down the middle and Havasu was up 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams played with the passion you would expect between two bitter rivals, sometimes a little too much in the officials’ eyes, which resulted in numerous personal foul penalties on both sides.

Havasu’s defense, however, was stellar and never really allowed Mohave to get on track containing the T-Birds and giving the offense great field position all night long.

Havasu would tack on two more touchdowns in the second quarter, a 35-yarder by senior Koen Taylor and a 13-yard end around by Devett to put Havasu up 36-0 at halftime.

Junior Frankie Taylor would scamper in from 34 yards, and the defense would add on a safety at the end of the third quarter to put Havasu up 45-0.

First year coach Tanner Kelly would use the fourth quarter to give an opportunity to some of the younger Knights to play, and sophomore Gaige Briggs took advantage with a 2-yard run to cap off the scoring and put Havasu by the final score of 52-0.

As time expired, and after shaking hands with the T-Birds, Havasu players quickly grabbed the coveted golden shovel and immediately took it over to celebrate with all the fans who made the trip and had Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse sounding more like a Havasu home game.

After the game, coach Kelly reflected on getting his first win as head coach as well as snapping a three-game losing streak to Mohave; “It feels fantastic,” on the first win Kelly said. 

“It’s a full team effort tonight, the coaches did a great job, the players performed well and they were hungry for the win,” Kelly added.

But the celebration won’t last long because next week, Havasu continues the road trips and heads to Kingman to take on Lee Williams. Lee Williams is coming off their own big win with a 55-0 win over rival Kingman.

“Now we just got to go back to work and prepare ourselves for Lee Williams,” Kelly said. “Coach Reagan has done a good job with that team; I’ve watched their running back the last few years in track and field. He’s a stud, he’s fast, he’s tough and he’s hard to bring down.”

Friday nights game at Volunteer stadium at Lee Williams High School in Kingman starts at 7pm.

Then on Friday September 18th, Havasu finally has their home opener hosting the Lions from Alhambra.