This story was reported and all photos were taken by Paul Shepard.

The Centerpoint Knights traveled south of Texarkana to battle the Fouke Panthers on Friday, Sept. 4.

Despite the distance, a large crowd of Knights fans made the trip. Combined with the Centerpoint band, they filled the visitors’ bleachers on a clear, hot evening.

The Panthers won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. On their first offensive series, Fouke’s quarterback threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Centerpoint’s Levi Wright at the Panthers’ 30-yard line.

Three pre-snap penalties and a stout Panther defense pushed the Knights back toward midfield, and Centerpoint elected to punt on fourth down.

The Fouke offense then came to life. Following a sustained drive, the Panthers’ quarterback ran for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was good, giving Fouke a 7-0 lead with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter.

The Knights’ ensuing drive ended when the Panthers recovered a fumble. Fouke capitalized with another touchdown to take a 14-0 lead with 11:12 remaining in the first half.

Fouke then recovered a pooch-style onside kick, and it appeared the Panthers had all the momentum. But facing third-and-15, the Fouke quarterback threw a pass that was intercepted by Centerpoint’s Ely Welch.

The Knights drove toward the Fouke goal line, relying primarily on the running game. Centerpoint reached the Panthers’ 4-yard line, but on fourth down, Fouke intercepted a pass in the end zone.

On Fouke’s ensuing possession, the Panthers fumbled and Centerpoint’s Zach Boyett recovered the ball at the 16-yard line.

Benefiting from the short field, the Knights’ offense took charge. Hayden Dodson scored on a 5-yard run with 3:54 remaining in the first half. The extra-point attempt was unsuccessful, leaving Fouke ahead 14-6.

Fouke had one final drive before halftime, but on fourth-and-17, a desperation pass was intercepted by Wright for his second pick of the game. The Knights were unable to turn the takeaway into additional points before halftime.

Centerpoint got off to a strong start in the third quarter when Wright fielded a short kickoff and returned it to about the Fouke 40-yard line, giving the Knights good field position.

Centerpoint capitalized with a touchdown pass from Tony Valdez to Welch. Welch then ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game 14-14 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Fouke later regained the lead on a touchdown pass and successful extra-point kick, making it 21-14. Centerpoint took over at its own 21-yard line with 9:17 remaining in the game.

The teams traded possessions before Centerpoint, running out of time, found itself near midfield facing fourth-and-5. A long pass-and-run appeared to result in a Knights touchdown, but the score was erased by a holding penalty.

Centerpoint eventually faced fourth-and-16 at about the Fouke 40-yard line with 1:19 remaining and the Panthers still leading 21-14.

Valdez completed a pass to Welch that brought the Knights to the Fouke 30-yard line. With only three seconds remaining, Centerpoint took one final shot at the end zone.

Valdez’s pass was just beyond the reach of a diving Queon Best, bouncing off the receiver’s fingertips as time expired.

Fouke held on for the 21-14 victory.

The loss dropped Centerpoint to 1-1 on the season. The Knights are off Friday, Sept. 11, before playing their first home game of the season Friday, Sept. 18, against Spring Hill. The Spring Hill Bears are 0-2.