By Ken Lay
Christian Academy of Knoxville football coach Chad Speck might have seen his team earn a lopsided postseason victory in the opening round of the TSSAA Division II-AA playoffs.
But he was far from satisfied.
“I don’t care what the scoreboard says. We play to a standard,” Speck said after the Warriors cruised past Pope John Paul II, 37-7, on a chilly Friday night at Warrior Stadium. “The championship isn’t the goal.
“It never is. We want to be the best team we can be.”
CAK (10-1) was certainly efficient against the Knights (2-9) to open the postseason.
The Warriors scored touchdowns on five of their first possessions on their way to punching their ticket to the second round. The Division II-AA East Region Champions will host Evangelical Christian School (8-3) in the second round Friday night at Warrior Stadium.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., and Speck is anticipating hosting the Eagles.
“Since we moved into Division II, we’d only won two playoff games on this field,” he said. “It’s great to win our third one here and have the opportunity to host a (second-round) game.
“I’m proud of these guys, but we have to keep getting better.”
The Warriors wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. After receiving the opening kickoff, they engineered a short drive that was capped with a touchdown on a trick play as quarterback Seaton Moffett tossed the ball to running back Isaac Kannah, who lofted a 29-yard touchdown pass to Baker Sterchi to give CAK a 6-0 lead.
Bennett Jelks added the extra point to make the score 7-0 with 10 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Warriors made a fourth-down stop on Pope John Paul II’s first possession and, after taking over, extended their advantage to 14-0 when Moffett connected with Masyn Apalategui on a scoring strike with 4:45 remaining in the opening frame.
The second stanza was packed with more offensive fireworks for the Warriors as Kannah had a pair of touchdown runs, covering 9 and 5 yards respectively.
Moffett also had a touchdown pass to Sawyer Anderson to make the score 35-0 by halftime and invoke the TSSAA mercy rule.
Moffett’s second-quarter scoring strike was set up when he connected with Sterchi on a long pass on fourth-and-8.
The clock ran for the entirety of the second half, but CAK’s defense joined in the scoring parade when the Warriors tallied a safety with 7:52 remaining in the third quarter, making the score 37-0.
Pope John Paul scored a late touchdown against CAK’s reserves, spoiling the shutout.
“They still had their starters in,” Speck said. “And I had my whole JV (team) in.
“I have to give my young guys a chance to play. You can’t control their substitutions. You can only control what you do.”
Kannah had another big night for the Warriors as he amassed 168 total yards. He had 105 rushing yards and two TDs on 15 carries. He also threw the game’s first touchdown pass and compiled 24 yards in kick returns.
