Week 1: King’s Way Christian encouraged even in defeat

Another new start for the Knights, who are hungry to improve

It goes down as a loss, but King’s Way Christian still feels like a winner after Week 1 of the 2018 high school football season.

“It was my first game as a head coach. The kids’ first game in a new system, again. And they were just really hungry to get better every rep. Didn’t matter what the score was. They wanted to get better every rep,” Brian Rodriguez said.

As a refresher, Rodriguez is the fourth head coach in four seasons. Oh, and King’s Way Christian is starting freshmen on varsity.

Sure, the score got away from the Knights in a 48-14 loss to Elma. The will to succeed remained, though.

“Elma is very physical, but we were fighting back,” Rodriguez said. “Our boys never gave up. To come out that first game against a very big opponent, I was really proud.”

Offensively, the Knights were led by Gage Koenders, who rushed for close to 100 yards. He also played every down on defense.

“He did a great job in the offseason, working on conditioning and lifting to get himself in position to do that,” Rodriguez said. “He did a great job. Didn’t want to come off the field.”

The coach also noted the play of freshman Bryson Metz. Every time he gets the ball, it’s just a special moment waiting to happen.

On defense, Dylan Scott played well at middle linebacker, but also did everything else a leader is supposed to do.

“He was very encouraging to the underclassmen,” the coach said.

Scott also never came off the field, playing offensive line, too.

Freshman Ty Snider was credited for his open-field tackling from his defensive back position.