Havasu head football coach Karl Thompson has been hoping to see balance from his team this season. All three phases — offense, defense and special teams — pulling together. And that’s what he got Friday.

Submitted Photo. Havasu’s Doug Greene looks to pass against Kingman last week. This week against La Joya, Greene ran for two touchdowns, one of six the Fighting Knights scored in their first win of the season.

The Fighting Knights’ 39-18 win over Avondale La Joya Community showed what his team can do when each component is doing its job.

“We talked about taking two steps forward as a program and I think we did that Friday,” Thompson said. “We said all three parts of the game have to do their job and we did that.”

The Knights put together their most balanced game of the season in the win, with 441 total offensive yards but no player getting more than 100. Quarterback Doug Greene led the rushing attack with 83 yards and two touchdowns – his fifth and sixth on the season – while running back Blake Garcia contributed 82 yards.

Paul Lake, who played quarterback for the Knights in the first half, ran for 64 yards while running backs Javaree Thompson and Max Delia each had 29 yards. Delia also scored three times.

The Knights also went to the air more against La Joya than any other team so far this season. Lake was 8-of-13 for 128 yards including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Holtzen, his second TD catch of the season. Meanwhile Greene was 3-of-3 for 31 yards.

“I think this game you saw a more measured attack from us. We marched down the field a lot, nothing flashy,” Thompson said. The offensive guys stepped up and the most important thing is the guys understand their roles.”

Defensively, the stops were being made up front.

“And that’s a very good thing. We’re making the plays at the line by the linemen and the linebackers, not the secondary. We’re tackling better,” said Thompson. “And La Joya had some athletes so we knew we had to show up from beginning to end. And we did that.”

Garcia, at linebacker on the defensive side, led the team with seven tackles followed by Dillon Bracamonte with six and at five were linemen Tyler Poggemeyer and Jesus Mireles and linebacker Joe Twardowski. Lake also had five tackles.

But the biggest news coming out of Friday’s game was the turnovers. Havasu was plus three on the game, with Brad Fender and Bracamonte scoring an interception each, and Fender and Garcia each scooping up a fumble.

Havasu, beset by the dropsies in the first two games, gave away the ball just once, a fumble in the red zone late in the first half.

“The guys figured it out. I saw more two-hand covers in this game than the other two,” Thompson said. “It’s what we’ve been saying all along, ‘do your jobs, do the little things right every time.’”

The Knights stay on the road this coming week, foregoing the bye week in favor of facing the 2A North Pointe Prep Falcons in Phoenix in a non-region game Friday. It will be the third in a five-game stretch of away contests.

“Sometimes a bye week can make a team rusty, they lose focus,” Thompson said. “We want to keep the routine going, do what we’re doing.”

You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com.