BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (WYMT) - The #8 Knox Central Panthers improved to 2-0 last weekend, beating a very physical Knoxville-Karns, Tennessee team.

With the Panthers' high-powered offense only scoring 14 points against the Beavers, it was the defense that made several big plays down the stretch to secure the win, and that's something head coach Scott Russell says has carried his team early in the season.

"Well, so far, our defense has really showed up big for us. They've got the ball back for us. They've got several turnovers," says Russell. "People that have thrown the ball a lot, we've gotten some interceptions. I thin, probably, maybe Matthew (Barger) may be leading the state in interceptions at this point, I don't know. I know he's got several interceptions. But you know, they've been playing lights out for us right now. Any time that you go into a game and your offense isn't really putting up points, the defense is going to have to pick you up, and they picked us up in that last ball game by making some stops when we had to have them."