First appeared on CrescentCitySports.com
BATON ROUGE – The Amite Warriors continue to show why they are favored to repeat as Class 2A champions.
Sparked by a defense that forced four turnovers and the running of Corey McKnight, the Warriors made quick work of the Capitol Lions, winning 42-7 at Memorial Stadium.
Capitol was out of sync from the outset. On their first drive of the night, quarterback Carlyle Joseph was sacked and fumbled the ball. Amite made the recovery and was in business at the Lions’ 27 yard line.
It took the Warriors five plays to find the end zone, as Kevin Bickham scored from 15 yards out to make it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Late in the first quarter, misfortune struck again for the Lions. Lined up to punt, Capitol misplayed the snap, allowing Amite to recover at the 24. It only took two plays to extend the lead to 14. Corey McKnight scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns on a 20 yard romp up the middle.
After forcing another punt by the Lions, Amite took a more scenic route to its third score. McKnight accounted for 66 of the Warriors’ 77 yards on a seven play drive that ended with his second score; this time from three yards out.
Capitol would give the ball right back on the first play of their next possession, as Joseph fumbled for the second time, and Amite was back in business from the Lions’ 23 yard line.
McKnight wasted no time in making them pay, bursting through the defense for a 23-yard touchdown run, giving him the hat trick and Amite a 28-0 lead.
The senior wasn’t done yet, however. On the ensuing possession, Capitol put the ball in the ground for the third time, and McKnight was there to scoop it up and return in 19 yards, setting up the Warriors with another short field.
Captiol’s defense forced Amite into a fourth and 16 at the 22-yard line, but John Walker was able to evade the rush and find Dorian Batiste for the score and a 35-0 halftime advantage.
Early in the third quarter, the Warriors put the lid on the game. Batiste picked off Joseph in the back of the end zone to thwart the Lions’ best scoring opportunity of the night.
Amite then went on a seven-play, 80 yard drive that was finished off when Walker and Batiste connected for their second touchdown of the night, this time a 63-yard scoring strike. At 42-0, it was time to call off the dogs.
Capitol was able to avoid the shutout when Jacoby Bellazar returned an interception for a touchdown with nine minutes to play. For Bellazar it was his eighth touchdown of the season.
Amite (2-1) heads to New Orleans to face De La Salle next Friday night, while Capitol (2-1) will look to bounce back when they host Lusher next Thursday.