ARAB, Ala. – The Arabian Knights kicked off the 2023 season at home against Albertville Thursday night and Arab jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back on its way a 34-6 win over the Aggies.
Arab got the ball first to start out the game and Drew Puccio picked up 10 yards on second down for a Knights first down at the Aggie 47. Later on, Puccio connected with Landon Strickland for a 17-yard gain, and that put Arab at the 20. A pair of offsides on the Aggies put Arab at the 6, but the Knights failed to convert on fourth down, forcing them to turn the ball over on downs. Arab’s defense, though, forced a punt on their opening defensive series. A bad punt put the Knights in excellent field position at the 29. Another offsides penalty on Albertville put Arab at the 24. Later on, Puccio found Strickland for a six-yard gain, then Logan Alldredge found a huge hole on the left side of the line and found the end zone on a 13-yard run to give the Knights a 6-0 lead with 3:53 left to go in the opening period.
It didn’t take long for Arab to get the ball right back as Landon Ertl recovered the kickoff at the 33. On the third play of the series, Puccio found Luke Hudson for a 14-yard gain and a first down at the 16. Three plays later, Puccio scored on a 10-yard quarterback keeper to give Arab a 13-0 lead. The Aggies moved the ball across midfield behind a couple of big runs, and later on, a pass interference penalty gave the Aggies a first down at the 28. A personal foul penalty, though, pushed them back to the 33, and Arab’s defense stiffened after that as a huge sack by Lawson King forced Albertville to turn the ball over on downs later in the drive.
Each team traded punts on their next series, and after another Knight punt, Hagan Stewart picked off an Albertville pass at the 22. It was a heavy dose of Alldredge on Arab’s next series, and the Knights were helped out by another offsides penalty. Alldredge finished off the series with a 2-yard run with 1:09 left to go in the first half to push Arab’s lead to 20-0. The Knights would go into the locker room up, 20-0, over the Aggies.
The Knights forced an Aggie punt on the first drive of the second half; one of the highlights of the drive was another sack by King on second down. The Knights started their first series of the second half at midfield, and Puccio ripped off a 23-yard run on the first play of the series. Arab kept the ball on the ground after that, as runs by Taylor Anderson and Alldredge helped the Knights get to the seven-yard line. On fourth down from the seven, Puccio found Hudson over the middle for the seven-yard score to give Arab a 27-0 lead. Arab got the ball back after another three-and-out by Albertville, but an interception gave the ball right back to the Aggies.
After another punt, Arab got another big run from Alldredge as that put them at the 44-yard line, then later on, a couple of big passes from Puccio to Strickland put the ball at the 14-yard line. Puccio connected with Hudson on the next play to increase the Knight lead to 34-0 in the fourth quarter. The Aggies put up their first touchdown of the game on a six-yard touchdown pass to make it 34-6 late in the game, but the deficit was too much for them to overcome, as the Knights picked up a 34-6 win in their season opener over Albertville.
Puccio went 11/18 for 107 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and an interception, and added 43 yards and another score on the ground. Alldredge rushed for 102 yards on 23 carries and a pair of scores. Hudson finished with six receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Stewart finished with an interception, while King added a pair of sacks and Zac Hallman got one of his own.
The Knights will stay at home next Friday night to take on Brewer.
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