In September of 2016, both UCF and USF officially recognized the “War on I-4” as a rivalry series. The schools compete each year in 14 sports and the winner takes possession of a large trophy shaped to look like the I-4 sign. The winner of the rival football game also receives a similarly shaped trophy—one that after yesterday’s win, the Knights will possess. Additionally, the UCF Knights are currently winning the year-long competition.
In the past two years, the UCF Knights have truly been a force to be reckoned with and the Friday night game against our rivals, the USF Bulls, was certainly no exception. The War on I-4 was another fantastic win for the Knights, bringing us to an amazing 24-0. With each win, UCF seems to gain more recognition and respect from those who have continued to doubt us. Unfortunately, though, our Friday night win also came with some heavy hearts. Our quarterback, McKenzie Milton, received a gruesome injury during the first half of the second quarter.
The moment Milton went down, the stadium grew silent. Players on both teams rallied around him giving their support and a few minutes later, #10 was carried off the field and was later reported going to a nearby hospital. Backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr then took McKenzie’s place and led us to our 38-10 victory. (Our second straight win in the War on I-4!)
Game Recap:
During the majority of the first quarter, neither team was able to score points until Gabriel Davis caught a pass thrown by Milton for a touchdown with :25 to go. At the beginning of the second quarter, our star quarterback McKenzie Milton was injured and Darriel Mack Jr replaced him. Greg McCrae also ran 40 yards for a touchdown and USF managed to get a field goal. After halftime, once again neither team was able to put points on the board until USF scored a touchdown with 1:15 left to go in the third quarter. UCF followed up with another touchdown with :13 left to go, bringing the score to 24-10. During the fourth quarter, the bulls offense definitely suffered while both the Knights offense and defense were strong despite Milton being gone. At 9:17 left in the fourth quarter, Greg McCrae scored another touchdown for the Knights along with Taj McGowen at 2:51 bringing UCF to 38 points. The Knights held off the Bulls during their last possession and the KNIGHTS WON, making this our second undefeated regular season!
What’s Next? AAC Championships:
Next week on December 1, our Knights will play the Memphis Tigers in the AAC championship game. With Milton’s injury during the USF game, Mack Jr will certainly have to step up to win the game for the Knights. Last year, we also played the Memphis Tigers twice, (once in the regular season and later in the championships) and won both games. UCF won 40-13 in the regular season game and won again during the AAC championship 62-55 after going into double overtime. Despite last year being a close game, I have high hopes that UCF will stand victorious over the Tigers for the third time in a row, stretching our wins to 25-0—not just for our team, but also for Milton. All in all, this is surely not a game you won’t want to miss, so I hope to see you out there. GO KNIGHTS and CHARGE ON!