Scoring opportunities were few because the Knights and Trotwood-Madison were locked in a defensive battle of stopping the run, hounding quarterbacks, forcing fumbles and making fourth-down stops. So when Jayden Mowbray lined up to attempt a 22-yard field with over eight minutes left, it seemed like a chance to not only break a tie but win the game.
However, holder Channing Hawes didn’t handle the snap well enough from snapper Connor Watkins and Mowbray didn’t have a chance to kick. The three met on the sideline.
“We reaffirmed each other that it’s not going to happen again, and we’re going to make it happen next time,” Mowbray said.
With 1:28 left, the trio got another chance from 31 yards. Trotwood called time just before the snap and Mowbray made a kick that didn’t count. No worries. The snap, the hold and the kick were perfect on the next try, Alter had a hard-fought 10-7 victory over winless Trotwood and Mowbray celebrated the first game-winning kick of his life.
“It was an amazing atmosphere to be in,” he said. “Just relieved and straight happiness. I worked all summer to have the opportunity to win the game for my team.”
Alter coach Ed Domsitz didn’t hesitate to go for another field goal when the Knights faced fourth-and-goal from the 14.
“He was ready for the moment,” Domsitz said. “Jayden Mowbray deserves a lot of credit.”
The Knights, beset by injuries, needed the win to get to 2-2 after last week’s 36-7 drubbing at Cincinnati Taft.
“We didn’t help ourselves a whole lot — matter of fact, we shot ourselves in the foot a few times,” Domsitz said. “But the kids just kept coming back. They showed a lot of heart. The roster has shifted quite a bit in the last two or three weeks, and these kids played some football tonight.”
The Knights lost third-year starting quarterback Gavin Connor to a broken arm two weeks ago in a win over Cincinnati Withrow. Noah Jones moved from running back and is trying to lead the team at quarterback. The passing game is diminished, at least for now, but Jones connected downfield on a 30-yard jump ball to Jimmy Nagle to set up the winning field goal.
“We’ve got to do some different things in order to change our offense up and try to accent the things that he does,” Domsitz said of Jones. “We know the kind of competitor he is. We know he’s an athlete. We know he’s a good runner and he can throw, and he showed that a couple times tonight.”
Alter needed only 149 total yards and scored first after Morgan Montgomery forced a fumble and Okemdi Eze recovered it at the Rams’ 17. Rod Owens, who returned from injury last week, carried the ball four straight plays and scored from the eight on fourth-and-one for a 7-0 lead with 7:29 left in the half.
The Rams answered with their best drive when quarterback Deontai Gholson sneaked in from the one to tie the score 7-7 with 4:19 left in the half. Otherwise, the Knights kept Trotwood far from the end zone. The Rams finished with 65 total yards. Two high snaps, one on a punt, cost them 43 yards.
“We just have to step up a little more,” senior captain and safety John Keighley said. “We have full trust in our offense, but sometimes when they can’t get it done – they will get it done eventually – we just got to step up. Last week was absolutely embarrassing for the whole defense. We all knew that we had to prove ourselves.”
Trotwood (0-4) has been in every game. Last week the Rams lost at Springfield on a last-minute touchdown and faked extra-point that went for two points in a one-point game. The Rams are dealing with injuries to key players, too. Quarterback Dallas Shehee played only on the final series. Otherwise, it was a mix of sophomore Ke’Arron Stround and Gholson, a senior.
“I’m not going to use not having a quarterback or injuries as a part of it because that’s a part of the game,” Rams coach Jeff Graham said. “I always tell my team that you’re one play away. You never know when somebody goes down and you will have to go out there and execute.”
Graham is looking for leaders to create better practices to get his team in the win column.
“If you practice a certain way, you tend to play the way you practice,” he said. “So until we get a leader, until we get guys that understand that we have to learn how to practice, then that will correlate into game situations. We’ll be able to go out and finish games that are close.”
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