QUINCY, Ill. – The Bellarmine sprint football team hits the road this weekend for their second of four Midwest Sprint Football League away games. The Knights head to western Illinois to face Quincy, a former GLVC rival for Bellarmine in many other sports, this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) at QU Stadium.
 
Bellarmine (1-2) will look to bounce back from a pair of shutout losses to Midway (50-0) and Calumet (48-0) after opening the season with a shutout of their own at Oakland City (43-0). After three weeks, the Knights sit in second place in the three-team Red Division behind Calumet.
 
Quincy (0-3) is still looking for their first win and sits at the bottom of the Black Division. The Hawks lost at home to Calumet (18-0) at home in their opener before dropping road contests at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (49-27) and Midway (41-12).
 
About the Hawks
Quincy's offense is driven by a handful of key players. Senior running back CJ Jackson is the workhorse, carrying the ball 51 times for 142 yards and one score. Add in five catches and Jackson has 56 touches, 44 more than any other Hawk. Josiah Oliver-Ross has 12 receptions, giving him the second-most touches, and has found paydirt twice. The junior receiver is third in the MSFL averaging 78.7 receiving yards. The Hawks' second-leading receiver is junior Gregory Quince with 11 grabs for 194 yards and a team-leading three scores.
 
At quarterback, Nick Manzo earned the start in the opener against Calumet, but was replaced by Kiet Truong the past two games. Truong has completed just 35 of 75 passes (46.7 percent) for 558 yards and nearly as many interceptions (four) as touchdowns (five).
 
The Hawks' defense is led by senior linebacker Donnell Packer (30.0 tackles) and junior lineman Kaden Buchholz (25.0 tackles). Packer leads the MSFL with his 10.0 tackles/game average and accumulated 14 tackles against Calumet. Buchholz has contributed a whopping 7.5 tackles for loss through three games, enough to lead the rest of the league MSFL by 2.5. He is also tied with the Knights' Roy Shrout for the league lead with two blocked kicks.
 
Junior Jensen Laughlin handles all the Hawks' kicking duties, but is just 1-for-3 on PATs and 0-for-2 on field goals, though one was blocked.
 
Versus Quincy
The Knights are 2-2 against Quincy. The teams opened the 2024 season as Page Stadium when Bellarmine carried a 27-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. Quincy, though, held the Knights scoreless in the second half and added a pair of touchdowns to bring the game within one score at 27-21 with eight minutes remaining. Bellarmine, however, authored a 14-play, 55-yard drive to drain the rest of the clock for the win.
 
Previous results
2024 home: W 27-21
2023 away: L 28-18
2022 home (semifinals): L 24-14
2022 away: W 12-0
 
Knights Knotes

• QB Dylan Morris is 3rd in the MSFL averaging 124.0 yards/game.
• RB Brenden Reid is 3rd in the MSFL with 174 yards and his 58.0 yards/game average. He is tied for 3rd with two rushing scores.
• DB/WR Da'coldus Fields leads the MSFL averaging 21.4 yards per kickoff return.
• DB Gavin Brazzell is tied for 4th in the MSFL with 19.0 total tackles.

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