By Ed Letsinger

The shirts that many of the Kings fans were wearing with the saying “Knights are Kings of this castle” rang true on an emotional Friday night at sparkling new Kings Stadium.  Playing their first true home game in two years before an electric, packed house, Kings withstood a late Loveland drive at the end of the game to beat the Tigers 17-13.

The inaugural game was also being played with heavy hearts after the sudden passing of Principal Tom Higgins over Labor Day weekend which left the school and community stunned.

“Tom Higgins would have loved a game like this,” said Kings head coach Andy Olds after the game.  “It was a well-played game by both teams and I’m just happy for the players, the coaches and the fans.  It was such an emotional week; I really didn’t realize it until we walked down the hill (to the stadium) tonight.”

Loveland almost spoiled the Knights home opener with a late fourth quarter drive that ended with an incomplete pass in the end zone.  On fourth down from the 10-yard line with 1.6 seconds left in the game, quarterback Chris Howland tried to rifle a ball through two Kings defenders that was partially tipped and fell to the ground.  The Tigers had started the drive on their own 20-yard line with 4:30 left in the game.  Howland made three big plays on the drive including a 15-yard run and two pass completions of 17 and 21 yards to get Loveland in position to win but the Kings’ defense held on at the end.

Defense was name of the game in the second half for both teams as neither team scored after halftime.  The Knights held Loveland to just 76 yards of total offense in the second half after giving up 176 in the first half.  Loveland was equally as strong on defense, holding Kings to only 42 yards in the second half after they had racked up 160 in the first half.

“We played great defense in the second half last week and I thought tonight we were pretty good throughout the whole game,” said Olds.

Kings started the game like they were going to blow Loveland out.  A Sean Keller interception of Howland at the Loveland 37-yard line led to a Collin McCafferty 28-yard touchdown run three plays later.  On Loveland’s next drive Kyle Brown picked off Howland and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead just six minutes into the game.

Loveland settled down and went 80 yards in six plays capped off by a 19-yard touchdown run by senior running back Billy West.  Howland then hooked up with senior wide receiver JT Maus on a leaping 34-yard touchdown reception with 4:44 remaining in the first half.  A missed PAT left the score at 14-13.  Maus put on a show in the first half, catching five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.  He ended the night with seven catches for 139 yards.

A 30-yard field goal by Kings junior kicker John Cancila with 5.9 seconds left before halftime turned out to be the last score in the game.

McCafferty rushed for 102 yards on 17 carries to lead Kings while sophomore quarterback Bruce Ernest passed for 79 yards.  Brown added another interception in the third quarter and had two for the game as did Keller, the second straight week the senior cornerback has had two interceptions in a game.

Howland threw for 136 yards on 8-of-14 passing with one touchdown and four interceptions.  West ended the night with 84 yards rushing on 24 carries.