KINGS MILLS – With Friday's victory, Winton Woods may have all but solidified themselves as Eastern Cincinnati Conference champions.

Thanks in part to a breakout second half by senior Trey Cornist, the reigning OHSAA Division II state champion Warriors wore out the hosting Kings Knights, escaping the heavyweight bout with a pivotal 28-23 victory over the Knights on homecoming night at Kings Stadium on Friday.

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A strong all-around effort by the Knights allowed them to leap ahead early 10-0, following a three-yard rushing score by Kings senior quarterback Will Kocher.

Winton Woods senior Jermaine Mathews Jr. wasted no time in responding for the Warriors. Matthews took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house, trimming the lead down to just three.

The two teams exchanged a slew of punts and turnovers in a defensive fest for most of the first half, but the Warriors found themselves with excellent field position for a final second-quarter drive.

Junior quarterback Vance George converted a crucial fourth-and-nine for the Warriors on the drive on a 29-yard connection, drawing the Warriors within the red zone. Just a few plays later George connected with Cornist for a walk-in on a bootleg, giving the Warriors their first lead of the night with six seconds remaining in the half.

Having received the ball to begin the second half, the hosting Knights were in dire need of a response to silence Winton Woods’ sudden surge – which Kocher achieved.

Kocher guided his Knights on an 80-yard drive, eventually punching it in on a nine-yard passing score to senior running back Jay Holubetz – putting Kings ahead 17-14.

Despite the strong opening drive, Kings’ lead would be short-lived.

George found himself in a rhythm following a two-interception first half and picked apart Kings' defense. The junior quarterback converted yet another pivotal fourth down, this time on a fourth-and-15, connecting with senior Carlos Cox Jr. on a 21-yard dart over the middle. George finished the drive with a 13-yard passing score to sophomore Landen Anderson.

Ahead 21-17, the Winton Woods defense buckled down and forced a pair of takeaways on ensuing Kings drives – one which would have been a pick-six by Mathews, but was called back on a blindside block. Of importance, the Warriors won the turnover battle 3-2.

“The turnovers we forced were huge,” Winton Woods head football coach Chad Murphy said. “Our defense has made a living on that over the years – but they’re also good at that. We have a few picks as a defensive unit, but they had forced like 19 turnovers. They’re good at what they do. The turnover thing we knew would be a big part of it like it is every Friday night.”

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With a lead in hand, the Warriors turned to their smashmouth running back in Cornist – whose imposing running style seemed to take its toll on the Knights' defense. Cornist punched in his second touchdown of the night on a 21-yard rushing score to put the Warriors ahead comfortably at 28-17 in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

But a team as stout as Kings wasn’t ready to give in just yet. Kocher’s Knights responded with a touchdown in a drive spanning less than a minute for 61 yards. Kocher connected with senior Michael Mussari on a six-yard score with 2:43 remaining in the contest.

Surprisingly the Knights elected against an onside kick, instead turning to their defense for a stop. But Cornist – who ended with 27 carries for 133 yards and two scores (one receiving) – did his part for Winton Woods, eventually converting a first down to secure the victory for the Warriors.

“I do believe we wore them down a bit in the second half,” Murphy said. “That’s our game plan. We feel with a guy like Trey (Cornist) and (James) Minor, if we keep pounding away that we’re going to break one. We missed a couple of the play-actions early that really would have helped some things. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”

As for the two quarterbacks in the contest, George ended 7-of-14 passing for 92 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kocher finished 15-of-32 passing for 171 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against an incredibly strong Warrior secondary, along with 19 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown on the ground – accounting for all three Knight scores.

For a Winton Woods team that had been coasting by competition as of late to the tune of an average margin of victory of 36.6, this contest could be just what the doctor ordered for a stretch run in their state title defense. As Murphy told his team postgame, this was hands down their biggest challenge to date. Albeit not the prettiest at times, but a tough, impressive victory nonetheless.

“We had to work offensively for what we were getting, versus the first six weeks where we were breaking long runs periodically,” Murphy said. “I’ll tell you – we had a couple big drops early. This was a great atmosphere; that’s another great thing for our team to experience this atmosphere on Kings’ homecoming. Like I said, we’re just glad to come away with the win.”

The Warriors (7-0) remain unbeaten and sit in sole possession of the ECC lead with the victory. Kings (6-1) snaps its six-game winning streak with the blemish.

Winton Woods will look to continue rolling next Friday at Milford with a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Knights, on the other hand, will host Lebanon at 7 p.m. next Friday as they look to bounce back from their first loss.

2Q: K: Wik 32-yard field goal, 3-0 Knights.

K: Kocher 3-yard rush (Wik kick) 10-0 Knights.

WW: Mathews 80-yard kickoff return (Domobele kick) 10-7 Knights.

WW: George 3-yard pass to Cornist (Domobele kick) 14-10 Warriors.

3Q: K: Kocher 13-yard pass to Holubetz (Wik kick) 17-14 Knights.

WW: George 13-yard pass to Anderson (Domobele kick) 21-17 Warriors.

4Q: WW: Cornist 21-yard rush (Domobele kick) 28-17 Warriors.

K: Kocher 6-yard pass to Mussari (conversion failed) 28-23 Warriors.