Sometimes in sports, it's about finding ways to generate offense when it does not come easily. A baseball team is struggling to hit for power? Start playing small ball by stealing bases and laying down bunts. A football team with low point totals may opt for slowing down the pace to extend drives and shorten opportunities for the opposition. On Tuesday night at Indian Highland Park, Dobyns-Bennett used one such tactic to emerge with a 1-1 draw against Knox Central.
Down 1-0 at the half, D-B (3-3-2) forged a tie in the 65th minute. Courtney Quisenberry delivered the equalizer on a penalty kick after winger Shania Jarquin drew significant contact in the box.
“We've actually been working on that: driving to the goal, cutting in front of the defender, and either they have to foul you or let you shoot,” Tribe coach Tony Weaver said.
The D-B offense has been less potent in 2024 than in years past, stemming from a combination of factors including graduation losses, injury, illness and a difference in scheduling. The PK by Quisenberry marked the 11th goal of the season, coming in the eighth match of the campaign. By contrast, the 2023 Lady Indians had scored 27 goals through eight games.
“We're still looking for that striker who wants to go out and score goals. Tonight we showed flashes of a couple that really want to go out there and do that,” Weaver said.
When D-B receives a penalty kick, there is no doubt that Quisenberry is getting the ball.
“She's solid,” Weaver said. “You could see where her placement is and it's that way every single time. She is the go-to PK taker. I know she's gonna hit it. I don't even have to worry about it. I know she's gonna go up and hit it hard and place it well.”
Knox Central (5-1-1) notched its goal 12 minutes into the match when Paige Branam got loose on a breakaway run and beat the defense and keeper Aaliyah Hensley for her seventh goal of the season. In the process, Branam matched Savannah Johson for the team high.
Hensley did make five saves, several in the second half that included an impressive leap to punch the ball out of harm's way in the 56th minute. She also tallied a pair of stops in the final five minutes of the match.
“She played some sparingly last year and it was her first year ever, really,” Weaver said of Hensley, who previously was on the golf team at D-B. “We are very glad to have her.”
Johnson later had her chance at reclaiming the team lead in scoring for Central, kicking it just wide after getting the ball on a breakaway in the 75th minute and booting it over the net on a last-gasp shot as time expired.
“Getting a result anytime against a Knoxville team is good. We will take that,” said Weaver, who gave his team a fiery speech at halftime. “We were a little more aggressive, especially up top. We've got to have pressure up there. We've got to have that pressure up top to relieve the pressure in the back.”
Weaver substituted more liberally at forward to accomplish that. Taylor Blood joined a rotation with Kaylee Menya and Jarquin at the wing. Meanwhile at striker, Carlee Cradic got the call, becoming the third Lady Indian to start at that position as the previous two players to man that position are out indefinitely.
Central heads back down Interstates 81 and 40 but these two teams could conceivably meet again if they both reach the sectional round. Central won the District 4 regular-season title in 2023 and lost in the Region 2 semifinals to Knox West, which later fell to D-B in the Class AAA sectionals to punch the Lady Indians’ ticket for the state tournament.
Central coach Chris Quinn gave his assessment:
“There's adversity in every game and you've got to adjust to that adversity. And let's face it, there down the stretch we had chances. We had plenty of chances. You learn how to capitalize on those chances.
“There's something that I tell my players: everything that you do prepares you for next time. Next time we're in a situation where we've got chances late in the game, we hope to capitalize them based on what we learned from a match like tonight.”
