CLEVELAND &045;&160;A 20-point fourth quarter broke open a close game and gave Alden-Conger a 44-26 victory over Cleveland.

The Knights used a balanced attack to counter the Clippers’ attempt to key on the running game.

Quarterback Alex Bute threw for 175 yards on 11 of 16 passing, and A-C still ran the ball very

well rolling up 288 yards on the ground.

Josh Cords ran 17 times for 139 yards and two TD’s while Ryan Wach scored a pair of touchdowns and had 136 yards on the ground.

Both Cords and Wach ripped off long runs for scores in the fourth quarter of 45 and 65 yards, respectively, which came after the A-C defense put together a fourth down stand deep in its own

territory.

&uot;Cords really stepped it up tonight and came up with that big run after the defense had a big play to take some life out of them,&uot; said Alden-Conger head coach Chad Mattson.

The game was still in question heading into the fourth quarter with the Knights holding a slim 24-18 advantage.

Cleveland was able to score on a couple of occasions because of mental lapses on defense by A-C, but the Knights would come up big when it mattered the most. Cords began the scoring in the game when he raced 46 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Cleveland would answer with a 65-yard hookup from quarterback Matt Johnson to Joe Rohlfing, but a missed conversion gave the Knights an 8-6 lead after one.

Both Bute and Wach would score 5-yard touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 24-12 lead into the locker room.

Cleveland would get as close as 24-18 with its third quarter touchdown, but A-C proved to be the fourth quarter team on this night.

The Knights finished with 463 total yards of offense and did not have a turnover in the game, but did commit eight penalties for 65 yards.

The win leveled Alden-Conger’s record to 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in its division of the Southern Confederacy Conference.

The Knights are back home this week as they welcome Glenville-Emmons to Alden for their homecoming game.