Timberland Wolves Roll Over Francis Howell North

The smell of freshly cut grass and the sounds of marching bands filled the evening air, while the field lights illuminated Scott Swofford Memorial Stadium in Wentzville Friday as the Wolves defeated the Francis Howell North Knights 62-34.

Two costly fumbles in the first quarter doomed the Knights. On Howell North’s opening drive the center snapped the ball too high for starting quarterback Phillip Snipes to handle and two Timberland offensive plays later it was 7-0.

“We found out who could play and who couldn’t play,” Howell North Head Coach John Brune said. “We just made a couple big offense mistakes.”

Quarterback Ryan Bainbridge led the Wolves attack. Lucas Jordan was the leading rusher.

Runningback Terron Givans led the Knights in total yards with 247. He ended the night with four touchdowns.

“We had a bunch different guys making plays, that’s always good,” Timberland’s Head Coach Craig Collins said. “I think we did well, but you have to be better in week two than in week one.”

Howell North quickly readjusted and cut the Wolves lead in half. The Knights moved the ball down the field and took advantage of a costly Timberland penalty.

The two sides traded touchdowns for the remainder of the first half until Timberland blew the game wide open in the second half.

“We made some adjustments and slowed down in the second half and I think it paid off for us,” Collins said.

In the second half, Bainbridge connected with a variety of receivers to put 27 points on the board for the Wolves. Their defense also stepped up and only allowed two scores.

However, the defense did not have an answer for Howell North’s Givans.

Givans shined for the Knights pushing through Timberland’s defense with 97 and 47-yard runs in the second-half that inspired his team to keep fighting.

“I try to be a leader on the team,” Givans said. “I want to push everybody on the team to be better.”