On Friday night, Robinson and King engaged in a defensive struggle, one that couldn’t be decided in four quarters. The Knights came out on top with a 7-0 overtime victory in front of a packed homecoming crowd.

Knotted at zero heading into halftime, Robinson head coach Shawn Taylor had a simple message for his team in the locker room.

“Stay on our game plan,” he said. “It was our game; [we] just couldn’t make any mistakes.”

The Knights continued to struggle their way through the second half offensively without two of their top producers. Quarterback Malik Tyson (’16) re-aggravated an ankle injury and Anfernee Alston (’17), who wasn’t 100 percent coming into the night, was limited to only a few carries. The defense, led by seven tackles and two sacks from Wisconsin commit Keldric Preston (’16), came through consistently, shutting out a Lions offense that features a strong rushing attack.

David Stevens (’16) filled in for the injured Alston and rushed for 111 yards on 24 carries. Robinson had chances to break the tie late in the game, but a missed field goal and a turnover kept the score at zero.

Heading into overtime, Taylor had faith in his team’s chances.

“We condition as hard as anyone in the country,” he said.

Najee Fitzgerald (’17) stepped in for Tyson in the second half. His seven-yard run at the start of overtime set up the game-winning touchdown run by Jarvis Ramsey (’18) from three yards out.

“We always trust our team at the end,” said Taylor.

The Knights (3-2) will host East Bay (2-3) next Friday at 7:30 p.m.