Barely winning in overtime last fall, the Red Knights opened their 2009 season with a more decisive victory over the Robbinsdale-Cooper Hawks. “We knew it would be a tough game,” said head coach Patrick Kreiger, “Cooper is a well-coached team, and we are very pleased with the effort and the turnout of the game.”

Their effort payed off with 21-6 win, a much greater gap than their game against the Hawks last fall. Early in the game on Cooper’s first possession, senior Will Nelson sacked the quarterback. Shortly thereafter, junior Kyle McCarthy scored on a four-yard touchdown run set up by an 80-yard drive by the Red Knights. Senior Chase Mlnarik gained 38 yards before the half, and the Red Knights were up 14-0. “The first half looked really good,” said senior Jon Cotter, “We got ahead quick, which definitely paid off.”

The Hawks began the second half with a seventy-five yard gain, but failed to score, as senior Bailey Dodds stopped Hawk quarterback D.J. Hebert on the fourth down. In addition to his three pass break-ups, Dodds also had nine tackles.

Although a ten-play, ninety-yard  scoring drive by Cooper made the game 14-6, BSM responded quickly by scoring a touchdown, building their lead to 21-6. “We played well, based on the first game; I think we just need to work on consistency. The team would look really good out there, and then I would see a lot of mistakes,” said Coach Kreiger.

Overall, the Red Knights felt good about their first game. “I think Myles had a great game,” said senior Dan Nelson about junior Myles Barnes, who had a game-high thirteen tackles. Krebsbach, who passed 160 yards, had a career-high game. Senior Andy Kalb had seven tackles and junior Tyler Nelson had ten. “The team is really strong this year,” said captain Seth Marx,”we have a lot  of returning starters, so we predict we will do well through out the season.”