- Palo Alto Middle School
- Patriot Athletics
Knights top Roos in all-KISD District 12-6A encounter
Hudson Humble threw seven touchdown passes, Kaden Butler and Kristian Nobles scored three times apiece, the defense held District 12-6A’s highest-scoring offense to one touchdown and the Harker Heights Knights defeated Killeen 70-13 on Friday night at Leo Buckley Stadium.
It was the second straight District 12-6A win for the Knights (4-2, 2-0), who won their fourth in a row over the Roos (0-6, 0-2). The teams hadn’t played since 2021.
More photos of the game between the Knights and Roos can be viewed on the KISD Communications Flickr page here.
“Coming into this week, Coach told us it was going to take championship practices, and we looked at Killeen as any other opponent,” said Nobles, whose scoring grabs went for 33, 4 and 15 yards –– all coming in the first quarter. “We practiced hard all week, and it really just came down to how we executed tonight.”
Of his quarterback’s seven-TD showing –– a program single-game record –– Nobles said, “Hudson, that’s a guy to look out for. He’s going to be something.”
The previous single-game TD passes record was five held by Dylan Plake and Troy Smith.
Killeen, which entered the encounter averaging 548 yards and 42 points per game, created quite a stir at the game’s outset, putting up the opening points in electrifying fashion when Antwoine Warren hauled in D’Angelo Ingram’s pass up the left sideline for a 75-yard TD just 10 seconds into the contest.
Harker Heights seized control from there, save for Jadan Montgomery’s interception and zig-zagging 65-yard touchdown return midway through the first quarter that gave Killeen a brief 13-7 advantage.
By the end of the first half, the Knights led 35-13.
“We knew they were going to come out and bomb us. We knew they had elite receivers. We knew we had to try our best to lock them down,” said Harker Heights linebacker Cooper Howard, whose defense also got an interception from Arshawn Spann and a fumble recovery by Jordan Loney.
“We were a little shocked after the first play,” Howard added. “But, things happen. We got it going and we found a way to not let that happen again.”
Butler’s three scores included one receiving and two rushing. The senior running back now has nine TDs rushing this season. Ryan Taylor caught a pair of touchdowns in the second half and Tyler Johnson turned a screen pass into a 49-yard score. Jaylon Ross punctuated the Knights offensive onslaught with a fourth-quarter rushing TD.
“It felt like a complete win because we worked together all throughout the week, so this was just a total program win,” Howard said.
Killeen next faces Shoemaker on Oct. 10 while Harker Heights plays Bryan on Oct. 11.
In other KISD football action Friday night, the Grey Wolves (3-3, 0-2) fell 27-7 to Waco Midway (4-2, 1-1) in 12-6A and Chaparral (2-3, 0-2) lost 65-7 at Georgetown (4-1, 1-1) in District 8-5A-I.