ALDEN — What began as a promising outing for the Knights quickly took a turn for the worse.

The Lyle/Pacelli football team defeated Alden-Conger 44-14 Friday in Alden.

The Knights took an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but didn’t manage to put up any more points on the board for the rest of the night.

“We didn’t want it as bad as they did,” said Alden-Conger coach Chad Mattson. “We lost it and Lyle picked it up.”

Alden-Conger took another hit in the second quarter when standout senior Lucas VanEngelenburg had to leave the game due to a concussion. Mattson said VanEngelenburg will be out for at least the next week, which includes the Knights’ first postseason game.

In the two quarters VanEngelenburg played for Alden-Conger, he racked up 118 rushing yards on 17 carries. He scored the Knights’ two touchdowns and also had a sack on defense.

Sophomore wide receiver Dalton Bradley had a total of 40 yards receiving on two receptions for Alden-Conger. He also had nine tackles and an interception.

Alden-Conger quarterback Kaleb Bendickson completed 6 of 15 passes for 61 yards. He threw one interception.

Sophomore Alex Cummings led the Knights’ defense with 13 tackles. Josh Majerus contributed 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Jacob Wallins added nine tackles and a fumble recovery, and Gavin Steele had six tackles and a sack.

Friday’s loss brought the Knights’ final regular season record to 1-7, both overall and in the South East District. The Knights have lost seven straight, and as of Friday night they were eighth out of the 10 teams in the district standings.

Mattson said he would most likely find out Saturday about seedings and who the team will play in the first round of the playoffs. That information was unavailable as of press time.