Debo Knisley signals touchdown on one of his four scoring runs that helped Piqua rout Greenville and give the Indians momentum entering Friday’s game at Troy. (PressPros feature photos by Sheri Hooley).
Piqua found its offense in an unlikely place, unleashing senior Debo Knisley from a new spot in the lineup to rout Greenville and give Troy something else to think about as the Battle on the Miami approaches.
Piqua, OH – Bill Nees has been at this coaching thing long enough to know a good thing when he sees it, even if that thing is tearing up his Piqua defense Monday-Thursday afternoon.
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That explains why Nees, who’s been the head man at Piqua since 1991, shifted Dominque “Debo” Knisley from his normal position at wide receiver to running back on Friday, hoping for a spark against unbeaten Greenville.
At all of 5-6 and 141 pounds, Knisley may lack the prototypical size of backs like Brandon Saine or Jasiah Medley, who’ve carried the Indians in years past under Nees.
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But despite his diminutive stature, Knisley did much of the heavy lifting in Piqua’s 50-7 victory with four touchdowns and 139 rushing yards of Piqua’s 320-yard offensive output.
“Debo has been driving us crazy in practice at running back when he’s running our scout team offense,” Nees said. “So, as a result, we all got together and – being the brain treasures we are – said, ‘Why don’t we get him the ball more?’ “
Knisley and the Indians moved swiftly to a 7-0 lead after receiving the opening kickoff, with quarterback Chris Davis finding Cohen Brown with a 15-yard pass at the nine-minute mark.
Davis went to the other side of the field on Piqua’s second possession, which set up at the Green Wave’s 43 after a lost fumble. Rayshawn Garrett plucked a well-thrown ball away from his defender just inside the right pylon to put another TD on the board – equaling in one quarter the entire scoring output the Indians’ offense managed in losses to Lima Senior and Tippecanoe.
“Our competition has been brutal,” Nees said. “But you can’t make excuses. You just have to keep playing, and tonight I thought we played well.”
Greenville, which broke a 22-game losing streak with its fast start over the first two weeks, cut Piqua’s lead in half early in the second quarter on John Barr’s 15-yard touchdown reception that made it 14-7.
Greenville’s John Barr hauls in the Wave’s only touchdown of the night.
Knisley quickly offset that with a 36-yard scoring burst six minutes before halftime to re-establish Piqua’s two touchdown lead.
“I have some speed that other people don’t have, and I’m kind of short so it think it’s hard for the defense to see me behind our lineman,” Knisley said. “I just tried to use my vision to find the holes they made for me, especially on our inside zone. They gave me a crease and I was able to get through there before the defense could react.”
Freshman Landon Sullenberger’s interception, thanks to a heavy rush that caused Greenville quarterback Aiden Manix throw toward Barr to come up short, then put Piqua in prime territory at the Green Wave 40.
Davis weathered the same sort of pressure five plays later, managing to get his throw off just in time and place it perfectly over Brown’s shoulder for a 26-yard touchdown at 1:57.
“We had it going tonight,” Davis said. “Handing it off to Debo is a lot easier than trying to get him the ball in space. But moving him to running back doesn’t hurt us because we still have two great receivers in Ray and Cohen. All of those guys were doing their thing, which makes us really hard to play.”
Only one of Davis’ 17 attempts fell incomplete, with Garrett repeatedly showing nifty footwork along the sideline for eight catches worth 94 yards. Brown had four receptions for 41 yards on a night Piqua threw for 154 and rushed for 166.
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“We knew all along that at some point in time, there would be much more challenging moments in our season that we’ve experienced so far,” first-year Greenville coach Steve Channell said.
Cohen Brown’s second touchdown reception powered Piqua to a 28-7 halftime lead.
“We knew that Piqua was a much better team than its record indicated. We did some things tonight that we haven’t done the first two weeks, so now our job is to get our players to overcome that and not respond like they have in the past.”
That task will be greatly compounded by the devastating news of a Greenville student’s death that began circulating on the Green Wave sideline at the half.
A prolonged break delayed the start of the third quarter. When play resumed, many Greenville players, cheerleaders and fans were clearly distraught and in tears.
Piqua now turns its attention to a Friday game at Troy and the 141st installment of the Battle on the Miami, Ohio’s longest-continuous high school football rivalry.
The Trojans (2-1) have won the last two in the series and hold a 68-66-6 edge a series that’s been played annually since 1899.
“They’re an excellent football team,” Nees said. “We’re excited. It’s a great rivalry and it will be a great game. Everyone is looking forward to it.”
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