Of the seven passes attempted by Alumni quarterbacks on Sunday, only one of them resulted in an incompletion. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, four of the remaining six ended up in the hands of Knott defenders.
Matt O'Connor, Trey Patrick, Jim Lynch and Mike Peters contributed one interception each in the Juggs 24-0 victory on Sunday
"We were working hard and have been in great shape all season," Lynch said. "They began to throw them longer as the game went on and time began to run out."
The Knott defensive unit can also be credited with the amount of pressure they constantly placed upon Alumni's offense added Lynch.
In addition to the interceptions, the Juggs also got two sacks and a fumble recovery by Justen Cheers. Throughout the entire contest, Alumni struggled in finding ways to place the ball in the end zone. In a clear illustration of Knott's defensive dominance, the Dawgs wound up with negative total yardage on offense for the entire game.
However, Knott dominated in rushing yards as John Lyons ran for 58 of his 120 total rushing yards on the first drive of the game, as Knott scored a touchdown without a single passing play on the drive. Lyons capped the drive with a 5-yard run into the end zone.
"Having Lyons opens up everything for us," Lynch said. "Our passing opens up a lot with him."
On their second drive the Juggs extended their lead with a 25-yard pass from Justin Gillett to Lyons. The extra point was no good, and Knott led 13-0.
Kicker Eric Wooldridge booted an impressive 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it a three-score lead.
With the suspense gone, Knott mounted one last scoring drive, culminating in a 30-yd touchdown pass to Trey Patrick who, for the second straight week, contributes both a touchdown catch and an interception. Knott handed the ball off to Lyons, who went in for the two-point conversion to put the final score at 24-0.
Knott will now move on to the interhall championship game at the stadium on Sunday. The Juggs' opponent will be the undefeated Knights of Keenan Hall.
"We have been saying all season our goal was to win the championship and we are now at the last and biggest step," Lynch said.
Keenan 20, Siegfried 0
The No. 1 Knights of Keenan blew away Siegfried during Sunday's semi-final match-up. The final score of 20-0 was met with an uproar on the packed Keenan sidelines.
The Knight's finished the first quarter with a touchdown, making it 7-0 after quarterback Eric Laumann completed a long pass into the end zone. The Ramblers stepped up, however, and blocked the extra point attempt.
Keenan was successful on the field because both offense and defense fought aggressively. Siegfried entered confident as well, but after an interception early in the second quarter by Keenan's Scott Morin, the Rambler offense began to falter.
As a result of Morin's interception, the Keenan offense held possession during a long series and Laumann completed a second long touchdown pass to Zenker once again. This time the extra point was completed.
With regard to the touchdown completion, Laumann praised Zenker for his presence on the field.
"He just makes me look good," Laumann said.
Siegfried's offense took the field right before half time, only to be shut down by Keenan's John Wood, who made an interception and returned it 20 yards.
In the second half, Siegfried's defense came strong and ready to play. It stopped Keenan's running game during two possessions. The secondary, especially, made some crucial tackles, holding off Keenan on a fourth down conversion.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Keenan's offense was third and long when Laumann completed another long pass to Zenker, sealing a Knight victory and a trip to the stadium.
"We get all the credit, but the real stars of the game are the line," Laumann said.
After the loss, Siegfried captain John Hughes respected Keenan for its aggressive style of play.
"We knew they were going to be great, they came in and ran the ball and passed it really well. We made a couple of mistakes and we could have showed for a lot more plays. We didn't get it done when it mattered," Siegfried Captain John Hughes said.
Despite the dominance Siegfried has held in men's interhall football the past several years, it was Keenan's afternoon and is now simply looking towards next Sunday's championship game.
"We came out and played as good as we could play. I think our real success in winning the game can be attributed to our running game, which opened up a lot of other options for us. This is the first time in four years that we've been to the stadium, it'll be a new experience for all of us," Keenan captain Patrick Downey said.
Siegfried's accomplishments, however, are not to go overlooked.
The seniors on the team have only lost four games in four years, which is quite an impressive career.
"I'm really proud of the guys, we had a great season. I'm proud of the seniors going out and of all the great guys that are going to return. My compliments to Keenan on a great game," Hughes said.
