The King’s Academy Lions took part in a high school football jamboree Friday night at Neyland Stadium and came away from the contest with some added confidence after a 21-0 win over the Tennessee School for the Deaf.
“I think we finally put our offense together,” said Lions Coach Larry Watson. “Our offensive line was great and our backfield execution was good.”
Since the TSD football program is so small in numbers, they only use eight players on the field at the same time. The King’s Academy, who also plays TSD during the regular season, agreed to subtract three players from offensive and defensive alignments during the pre-season contest.
The game, which consisted of one 12-minute quarter, saw the King’s Academy win the opening toss and use three plays to get into the end-zone as Eco Back took a sweep around left end on third and five for a 23-yard touchdown. The Lions big fullback, Jehu Hill, bulled his way through the center of the line for the successful two-point conversion to put the Lions on top 8-0.
TSD took over and saw their tailback gain 15-yards on first down but the Lions’ Matt King recovered a fumbled snap on the next play in TSD territory.
The King’s Academy quarterback Andrew Holt, then carried the ball three times straight and a facemask penalty on TSD during the last Holt run gave the Lions possession inside the TSD 20.
Hill then carried the ball five consecutive times for the Lions and finally crossed the goal line on a second down and goal play from the three. The extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the Lions with a 14-0 lead.
Hill, who weighs about 250-pounds, is an imposing presence coming out of the backfield, along with Back, who is more of a speed back with nice cutting ability, give the Lions a potent 1-2 punch at running back.
“Eco has a lot of field presence,” said Watson after the game when discussing his running backs. “Jehu is coming off of shoulder surgery and he sets up our ability to run the option. We’re excited about the different possibilities that both of those guys can bring to our offense.”
TSD put together their most impressive drive of the evening on the following series going deep inside Lions territory only to turn the ball over on downs after not converting a fourth and long.
The King’s Academy took possession and after three plays, Back took a pitch around left tackle and hit the sideline untouched for a 38-yard touchdown. The Keita Ochi extra point was good to make the score 21-0.

… read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.

... read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.