It was a timid start for quarterback Jalen Carter and the Kaneland offense.

On their first offensive drive against Ottawa, the Knights ran 11 plays to go 69 yards before Carter took it himself for a 2-yard touchdown.

It did not last that way for long.

The Knights went on to score four touchdowns over their next eight offensive snaps, catapulting them to a 56-7 victory over the Pirates to kick off Interstate 8 play.

“Our offense just really clicked all night,” Knights coach Michael Thorgesen said. “We started fast and got the ball first. And on defense, outside of one mistake, we were just excited to be out here.”

Besides his opening rushing score, Carter finished the night with 118 yards and two scores through the air, connecting with wide receiver Evan Frieders (two catches for 49 yards) from 43 yards out and wideout Brady Brown (two catches for 39 yards) for a 23-yard score.

“We just needed to get a little acclimated to the game,” Carter said. “We all just locked in and took what they gave us.

“Coach just told us to go out and have fun when we play, and that’s what we did. We just kept that energy up the entire way.”

Senior running back Carter Grabowski led the running game for the Knights (4-0 overall, 1-0 Interstate 8), finishing with 81 yards off eight rushes and two touchdowns from six and 33 yards out.

All five scores from the two helped the Knights to a 35-7 lead before the first quarter even came to a close. A 61-yard pick-six from Brady Alstott and a 2-yard rushing score from junior Colton Ludwig (six rushes for 42 yards) helped implement a running clock for the entire second half.

“We’ve got weapons, and they like playing together,” Thorgesen said. “They play well together, and I think we were just clicking tonight. I’m just happy with the way that they came out in this game.”

And with a scary league slate coming up of Morris, Sycamore and Rochelle over the coming weeks, Thorgesen knows that a win like this is big for the team.

“We know that we’ve got a gauntlet coming up,” Thorgesen said. “It was kind of ugly for us last year, but we’re grown up and a year older, and we want to hit the ground running.”

Ottawa (2-2, 0-1) was without quarterback Mark Munson for the game after he suffered an injury in a Week 3 loss to La Salle-Peru. And with no other quarterbacks on the roster, the Pirates turned to senior wide receiver Andrew Vercolio to go under center.

And despite only managing three completions for 19 yards, Pirates coach Chad Gross said he was proud of the four-year wideout for stepping up.

“I thought he did a good job running our offense for never getting reps,” Gross said. “But obviously we have to clean some stuff up. Kaneland is a heck of a team, and they’re going to score a lot of points on a lot of teams.”

The Pirates did have a bright spot on offense early in the first quarter when running back Archer Cechowicz broke off a 72-yard rushing touchdown. He finished the game with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“He was a kid that missed last year with an injury, and he’s come back with a vengeance this year,” Gross said. “He’s a great football player, and he showed with that run that he’s one of the best running backs in the league, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.”