Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers
Hollidaysburg’s Maddox Bainey trips up Oil City’s Ethen Knox.
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Oil City junior Ethen Knox has been putting up some eye-popping numbers this season.
He is believed to be the first running back in state history to run for more than 2,000 yards through the first five games.
Although Knox was held to a season-low 97 yards last week, he bounced back in a big way Friday night to ruin Hollidayburg’s homecoming.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound tailback rushed 52 times for 403 yards, five touchdowns and three two-point conversions as the Oilers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 38-21, come-from-behind, win over the Golden Tigers.
In all, Knox accounted for 36 of his team’s 38 points in the non-conference game at Tiger Stadium.
“He’s a great kid, works his butt off,” said Oil City coach Dan York, who was publicly censured by PIAA District 10 earlier this week for critical comments he made regarding the officiating in a Sept. 23 loss. “He’s fun to be around. He’s a tough kid. We’re proud as heck of him.”
Play of the game: Oil City blocked a 42-yard field goal try by Ben Sosnowski with 4:52 left in the game and the Tigers trailing 30-21.
It ended any hopes of a potential Hollidaysburg comeback.
Player of the game: Knox pushed his season totals to 2,507 rushing yards on 248 carries. He is averaging 358.1 yards per game on the ground through seven contests.
He has scored 30 touchdowns, including 29 rushing.
Knox did fumble twice against the Tigers, including on the first play of the second half. Jacob Ott’s recovery set up quarterback Tucker Rossman’s 13-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers their only lead at 21-16 at the 11:53 mark.
Knox then scored the final three touchdowns on a pair of 7-yard runs and a 17-yarder.
In the first quarter, he had scoring runs of 28 and 23 yards, staking the Oilers to an early 16-0 lead.
Unsung hero: Hollidaysburg receiver Drew Wyland caught eight passes for 147 yards and scored his team’s first touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard reverse.
“We had a rough start, but once we got the ball moving, we got confidence and were able to move the ball up and down the field,” Wyland said. “But we came up short. We have to get ready for next week.”
Most vital statistic: Knox piled up 221 of his rushing yards in the second half as the Oilers wore down the Tigers’ defense.
“Between the third quarter and halfway through the fourth quarter, we only ran seven plays and that was tough,” Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. “They possessed the ball. We couldn’t get off the field. That was the story of the second half.
“Overall, I thought we had some really good moments. They have a really good football team, with a really good running back. We did a pretty good job of containing him for a good portion of the game.”
More York: “Hollidaysburg is a good team. They have a good quarterback and they were catching the ball all over the place (in the second quarter) and they were making it tough on us.
“I thought we played much better in the second half.”
Notable: Hollidaysburg remained winless at home, falling to 0-3. … In addition to Ott, Jack Steiner and Maddox Bainey had fumble recoveries for the Tigers. … Ben Garland and Carl Chelton intercepted passes for the Oilers. … Oil City quarterback Gavin Stephens didn’t complete a pass on three attempts. The run-heavy Oilers have completed just four passes on 24 attempts all season. … Stephens accounted for Oil City’s other points with a successful two-point conversion after Knox’s final TD with 1:29 to play. … Rossman completed 22-of-31 passes for 263 yards for the Tigers and tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Gavin Bell. Rossman also went over 1,000 yards passing for the season. … The Tigers were held to just 37 yards rushing. … Lydia Szynal was crowned homecoming queen during halftime. She was escorted by Jack Naugle.
Records: Hollidaysburg (1-6); Oil City (5-2).
Next week: Hollidaysburg hosts Selinsgrove; Oil Cty at Conneaut Area.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Oil City 16 0 16 8 — 38
Hollidaysburg 0 14 7 0 — 21
First Quarter
OC–Knox 28 run (Knox run), 6:51.
OC–Knox 23 run (Knox run), 4:04.
Second Quarter
H–Wyland 2 run (Sosnowski kick), 8:57.
H–Bell 16 pass from Rossman (Sosnowski kick), 0:13.
Third Quarter
H–Rossman 13 run (Sosnowski kick), 10:53.
OC–Knox 7 run (Knox run), 3:25.
Fourth Quarter
OC–Knox 17 run (run failed), 6:02.
OC–Knox 7 run (Stephens run), 1:29.
TEAM STATISTICS H OC
First downs 17 30
Total yards 300 446
Rushes-yards 16-37 64-446
Yards passing 263 0
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 20-31-2 0-0-0
Punts-avg. 4-40.0 1-34.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-3
Penalties-yards 2-10 2-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Hollidaysburg, Rossman 5-24, White 3-12, Burket 4-5, Wyland 4-minus 4, Oil City, Knox 52-403, Pearsall 6-17, Stephens 4-10, Sanchez 1-9, Chelton 1-7.
PASSING-Hollidaysburg, Rossman 20-31-263. Oil City, Stephens 0-3-0-0.
RECEIVING-Hollidaysburg, Wyland 8-147, DeLattre 6-58, Bell 3-40, Albarano 2-11, Steiner 1-7. Oil City, none.