Knights Drop Home Finale To No. 2-Ranked Yuma Catholic

By Lonnie Stevenson

The final home game of the 2024 season was Friday night with the Knights hosting the No. 2-ranked Shamrocks from Yuma Catholic. In the end, Yuma left town with a 51-25 victory and left the Knights heading to Buckeye next week looking for one more win to finish the season with a .500 record.

Yuma won the opening coin toss and elected to accept the opening kickoff. It took the Shamrocks only 2:14 to quickly march down the field ending with an 18-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Benton Beck to put Yuma up 7-0.

Havasu, however, was not intimidated and quickly returned the favor with a quick 2:30 drive of their own highlighted by a sweet 27-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Trip Burke to fellow sophomore wide receiver Carter Devett. The extra point attempt was blocked and Havasu trailed 7-6.

LHHS Senior Night Lake Havasu RiverScene

Sophomore receiver Carter Devett pulls in a 27-yard pass for Havasu’s first touchdown. Jillian Danielson/RiverScene

Havasu’s defense then forced Yuma to punt the ball on the ensuing possession however, senior playmaker Sir Stokes of Yuma who not only is the team’s leading wide receiver, but also their punter, faked the punt and instead ran the ball for 55 yards for a first down and set up the offense for a 4-yard touchdown run from Senior running back Hunter Hancock. Pushing the Yuma lead to 14-6.

If the momentum hadn’t started to turn then, it certainly did on Havasu’s next possession, late in the first quarter, when quarterback Burke was hurt on a rollout when he was pushed down by a Yuma defender and landed awkwardly. Burke had to be helped off the field and would not return to the game.

The Havasu offense then just couldn’t get much going and Yuma was able to add two more scores in the second quarter to take a 28-6 lead into halftime.

To start the third quarter, Havasu turned to their third quarterback of the night, junior Halo Jump who started the night at wide receiver.

Jump led the Knights down capping the drive with a nifty little 10-yard touchdown run bringing the Knights closer. The two point conversion attempt failed so Havasu now trailed 28-12.

Junior Quarterback Halo Jump gets Havasu on the board to start the 3rd quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run. Jillian Danielson/RiverScene

Yuma answered with a 50-yard touchdown pass from their junior quarterback Nash Ott who connected with Isaiah Marquez putting Yuma up 35-12.

Havasu didn’t stop fighting and would start the fourth quarter with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jump to senior captain and running back Gavin Briggs. Again the 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, and Havasu now trailed 35-18.

But that’s as close as Havasu would get as Yuma would add two more touchdowns and a safety to push the lead up to 51-18.

Havasu would then turn to their fourth quarterback of the night, senior Eric Nieblus, who started the season as the number one quarterback before an injury sidelined him in the fifth game of the season. This was Nieblus’ first action since and because it was Senior Night, Coach Thompson wanted to give him one last time on the field in his Knight career.

And what did the senior do? He responded by leading the Knights down the field and connected with fellow senior Briggs for a 11-yard touchdown which brought the score to 51-25.

Yuma came into the game with their quarterback Ott only having thrown four interceptions all season however, the Havasu defense was able to pick off Ott three times on the night. With Briggs, junior Spenser Ibarra and junior Kyle Crowe recording interceptions.

Jillian Danielson/RiverScene

Before the game, 12 senior members of the 2024 team were honored with family and friends along with the senior members of the cheerleading squad. At halftime, senior members of the band were also honored along with their family and friends.

“Obviously not the outcome we were hoping for,” said head coach Karl Thompson after the game. “I’m extremely proud of the effort and the guys not giving up.”

“All year, we’ve had that ‘Next Man Up’ mentality and tonight was no different starting with the injury to Burke there at the end of the first quarter,” Thompson added.

“We had several guys get hurt but there was always someone ready to go and step into the spot. We had to make adjustments throughout the night, but the guys just kept battling to the very end.”

Next up for Havasu is the final game of the 2024 season next week when the Knights travel to Buckeye Union to take on the 2-7 Hawks Friday night, Nov. 8.

Havasu’s freshman/sophomore team finishes out their season at home this Thursday night, hosting the Buckeye Union Hawks.