Meadville defense slows down Ethen Knox and Oil City on way to win

The Bulldogs held Ethen Knox to a career-low 48 yards

MEADVILLE, Pennsylvania - Oil City running back Ethen Knox didn’t have his number on Saturday night, but the Meadville defense did.

A year after holding Knox to a season-low 97 rushing yards - the only time on the season Knox didn't rush for 300 or more yards - Meadville allowed Knox to run for just 49 yards on 20 carries in a 32-8 win at Bender Field on Saturday.

“Defensive coordinator Mike Richards, (the credit) goes to him,” Meadville head coach Ray Collins said. “The guy prepares the defense every week and comes up with a great game plan no matter who we're facing, and the kids buy into it and execute it and you saw that tonight. He dialed up a lot of pressure and closed down a lot of run lanes for Ethen and made it tough for him.”

Knox, wearing No. 13 instead of his customary No. 2 in the white and blue uniforms of the Oilers, came into the game averaging 9.8 yards per carry and 285.3 yards rushing per game this season, but never got loose against the Bulldogs. His longest run of the game was seven yards and 14 of his 20 carries went for three yards or less.

“Ethen Knox is an extremely talented running back, a very tough kid,” Colins said. “The goal really was not to ever let him get his shoulders pointed towards the goal line tonight because that's when he hurts you. We wanted to have him bouncing and getting his shoulders away.”

Offensively for Meadville, sophomore quarterback Jacoby Thompson ran for 103 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 64-yard score on 2nd-and-47 in the second quarter.

“It was a buck sweep and I was just looking for any hole that I could see,” Thompson said. “My offensive line blocked, my receivers blocked, and my fullback gave me a lane to cut up in and I just saw it and I ran to daylight.”

On 2nd and 47, @MdvlFootball's Jacoby Thompson takes it 64 yards for a TD.

Meadville leads Oil City 26-0 with 326 left 2Q. pic.twitter.com/xFkBQ8ilWp

— Ryan (@Isley23) September 30, 2023

Thompson also started the scoring with a 5-yard run and added 59 yards passing on a pair of completions and would have had a touchdown pass but Brighton Anderson went down on the 1-yard-line in the final minute to run out the clock.

Meadville's football team runs onto the field before its game against Oil City on September 30, 2023. (Photo: Ryan Isley)

After playing JV football as a freshman where he saw time at running back and quarterback, the coaching staff at Meadville identified Thompson as the right guy to run the spread packages in their offensive scheme.

“What you’re seeing is the continued development of a future great quarterback at Meadville,” Collins said. “And he has continued to come in here every Monday and clear through the entire week just working to get better and better. He listens to the coaches, he's very coachable. You're seeing his football IQ continue to increase dramatically. And I'll tell you what, he's a hard runner. He's a good passer. He's a smart kid. And that's all the things you want to see in a good quarterback and fortunately for us he wears a Meadville uniform.”

Jacoby Thompson with a 5 yard TD run for @MdvlFootball.

Meadville leads Oil City 6-0 with 423 left 1Q. pic.twitter.com/cdwI3Y9FfG

— Ryan (@Isley23) September 30, 2023

Tate Reichel started at quarterback for Meadville and with the Bulldogs up 6-0 in the first quarter, the 6-foot-4 senior hit a streaking Anderson down the middle for an 80-yard touchdown on a play action pass. He would also hit Nicholas Williams on a 32-yard touchdown pass on play action in the third quarter.

.@BrightonAnders9 gets open and Tate Reichel hits him for an 80 yard @MdvlFootball TD.

Meadville leads Oil City 14-0 with 35 seconds left 1Q. pic.twitter.com/9qN4QSZHse

— Ryan (@Isley23) September 30, 2023

“They had the safety tied too far into the box and supporting the run,” Collins said. “We knew with our play action pass game we would be able to get somebody behind him, so we did that twice.”

Jordan Lawrence finished with 102 yards rushing on 15 carries and added a touchdown for the Bulldogs.

Oil City got on the board late in the second quarter on an 89-yard touchdown pass from Cole Findlay to Gavin Stephens, one of only two plays for the Oilers that went for more than seven yards as the story of the game was that Meadville defense.

The @MdvlFootball defense hops on a fumble pic.twitter.com/QhMdN21tpc

— Ryan (@Isley23) September 30, 2023

The Bulldogs allowed just 161 yards of total offense, with 89 of them coming on the one touchdown pass.

“I was really proud of the defense,” Collins said. “I tell you what, they just they were hitting, they were flying around gang tackling and creating some turnovers, and that's what we expect of our defense every week. I’m just very proud of the defensive coordinator and the unit that we had out there.”

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sblivepa