School Spirit
By Lonnie Stevenson
The Lake Havasu Knights started the 2026 season with three straight games on the road before Friday night’s home opener against Alhambra at Lee Barnes Stadium.
Havasu took advantage of the home cooking, bringing the opening kickoff all the way down to the Alhambra 15-yard line. From there, the Knights offensive took over, with senior Carter Devett taking the end around hand off and scampering into the end zone to put Havasu up 8-0, just 21 seconds into the game.
The defense would stop Alhambra giving the Knights offense another opportunity and again, Havasu wasted little time with senior quarterback Keilor Pizarro connecting with senior Luke Johnson to put Havasu up 16-0.
Junior Dominic Bailey would intercept an Alhambra pass 76 seconds later and return it to the end zone and Havasu was up 24-0.
Pizarro would connect with Johnson again and then with senior Koen Taylor before the end of the first quarter and Havasu was up 45-0 at the end of the first quarter.
After the game, Knight head coach Tanner Kelly was happy with his team’s effort, “I think our guys really recentered and refocused this week,” Kelly said. “We had some good practices. It’s a matter of staying fresh and staying fundamentally sound.”
This week was also a chance for recent transfer Keilor Pizarro to get more comfortable with his new team.
“Kailor got a full week of practice with all the number ones and getting the whole reps,” Kelly continued. “He did a great job, led the team well, made some great passes and was well prepared.”
Kelly didn’t stop with Pizarro. He had praise for several Knights.
“We had guys like Carter, (Carter Devett) making big plays,” Kelly said. “Guys like Luke, (Luke Johnson) making big plays, Koen, (Koen Taylor) with a big touchdown there, Nico, (Dominic Bailey) with a pick six and Vinny, (senior Vincent Fiantaca) as always has been just dominant all year.”
Senior Landen Musselman also stepped in for injured junior Maddox Cosentino on the defensive side and made an immediate impact with several tackles for loss on the night.
“Landon’s been working hard for four years,” said Kelly. “He’s a hardworking guy, got a chance to get in there and did a great job for us tonight.”
With the 52-6 win, Havasu improves their record to 2-2 with homecoming next week with a Friday night, (Sept. 25) game against the Kofa Kings, (1-3 record). Game time is 7 p.m.
Kelly was aware of the potential for all the distractions that come with the many activities this week associated with homecoming.
“We’ll talk about it Monday,” Kelly said. “We need to make sure we understand the focus is on the game and being ready for Friday night before all that stuff on Saturday.”
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