BRENTWOOD – On a full moon Friday night, expect the unexpected. Never was that more in evidence than Friday night at Ravenwood High School during the Raptors' 56-28 win over Pope John Paul II.

Ravenwood, which sits at 8-2 and 3-1 in Region 7-6A, got off to a slow start as the Knights (6-3, 3-1 Division II-AAA East/Middle Region) slammed the opening kick-off down the field for a leisurely score before tacking on two more by the eight-minute mark of the second quarter to take an early 21-7 lead.

The dominating quarter-and-a-half only served to sharpen the avian predators' resolve, as the Raptors rolled off 49 unanswered points to turn a close game into a running-clock blowout over the next 16 minutes, including 35 in an eight-minute segment sandwiching halftime.

"We were blessed enough at the end of the second quarter to have some things go our way and we made a couple of big plays," said Ravenwood head coach Will Hester, whose coaching record at the Williamson County school improved to 45-6 in his fourth year. "I really thought the last five minutes of the first half and first three of the second half made the difference in the game.

"That's a playoff team in DII-AAA. They've beat a lot of really good football teams. The score is not indicative of how the game went."

The game showcased potentially two of the best junior quarterbacks in the state, PJP's Kenny Minchey and Ravenwood's Chris Parson.

Minchey had the Knights rolling early, ending the night 18 of 30 for 241 yards, with 11 of the completions slicing the Raptors for 10 yards or more. But he also threw a pair of interceptions that stopped drives.

The chunk plays didn't make the Raptors' coach especially happy, but it wasn't something he didn't expect.

"I expected it because they are a good football team and it's going to happen," Hester said. "The game now is can you get them stopped. We had a big fourth-down stop; we had a couple of take aways. That's what defensive football team is about now. We expected the to score points, but we were able to get the stops when we needed them."

Parson was quiety masterful, throwing for 286 yards and three touchdowns on a 10 of 14 worksheet with no interceptions. He added three more touchdowns with his feet, rushing seven times for 50 yards.

Hester was pleased, obviously, with Parson's performance.

Hester also pulled an unexpected razzle-dazzle play out of his book, with a Parsons-to-Brenden Dickinson-to-Edmondson double pass that covered 48 yards for a score in the second quarter.

The final nail in the coffin came with nine minutes left when Myles Pollard jumped a route and picked off Minchey at the goal line and turned on the after burners, out-running the entire Knights team for a 100-yard pick-six.

"It's our ninth game and it's almost playoff time. We came to play and to play like a playoff team," the Michigan commitment said. "I thought it was going to be a slant and I was able to jump on it and then just trust my speed."

The game was slowed by a total of 23 penalties. The Knights collected 14 flags for 140 yards; Ravenwood had nine for 90.

The win sets up a critical final regular season game next week at Ravenwood as the Raptors host region foe Independence (4-5, 2-2) in a battle for playoff seeding. Independence upended previously undefeated Page 49-38 on Friday night.

"He's a great player," he said. "How dangerous he is running the ball makes it that much better when he throws the ball. I think his threat of throwing really opens up his running."

Parson found Cason Edmondson four times, including an official four-yard connection that actually covered more than 40, as Parson scrambled to his right then threw back across his body to a streaking Edmondson in the back left corner of the end zone.

Highly-underrated Lee Molette also proved again he's made a connection with Parson. Molette caught three passes for 166 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown strike.

"He's just now starting to get his due," Hester said of the senior. "His picked up a couple of offers in the last 10 days. We knew he was a great football player, but we feel like we've got six receivers that we're playing that can all do great things for us."