For the second year in a row, the Knights football team has battled into the AISA playoffs only to come up short in the semi-finals. This year with the move back to 3A competition, the Knights faced some teams they had not played in recent years. An injury to quarterback Tucker Neven early in the year and a season-ending injury to newcomer Cephus Cleveland challenged the team’s offense, but didn’t stop the Knights from adjusting their game plan. A 10-8 loss at Pike early in the season haunted the Knights, who had only one other season loss at Monroe Academy (49-28), and set them up to enter the play-offs against powerhouse Morgan Academy. The Knights came out on top in the first round of playoffs surprising Morgan with a win in Selma for the first time in six attempts. Tucker Neven completed 18 of 31 passes for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Knights pulled away from the Senators in the second half. On November 9th, the Knights returned to Monroe Academy to face the defending AAA State Champs in round two. The Volunteers, who would go on to reclaim the title in Troy the next week, proved to be more than the Knights could handle in a 45-7 loss. Although a disappointing loss for the nine seniors and the team, the Knights are proud of their 9-3 overall season record in their first season back in the AAA classification. Four seniors, Jackson Ceman, Connor Higbe, Tucker Neven, and Brock Taunton, went on to represent Macon East on the West team at the AISA All-Star Football game at Cramton Bowl on November 30. Tucker Neven was named MVP of the West team receiving the 2018 John Faircloth Award.
