Photo by Jake Przytarski RTR’s Jonah Christensen tries to evade Canby’s Jake Wagner during their game on Friday. The Knights defeated the Lancers 40-12.

CANBY — After knocking on the door in their previous two matchups against Dawson-Boyd and Minneota, the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton football team finally broke through with its first victory since moving up to the Class A level of competition with a 40-12 road win over Camden Conference foe Canby.

RTR’s senior signal caller Payton Hess got the team off to a fast start on their very first drive by taking to the air and connecting with tight end Hayden Gravley on a screen pass that he took the distance midway through the first quarter for the team’s first touchdown.

On the ensuing drive, the Lancers threatened to answer with a scoring drive of their own set up by a long run by senior running back Tyler Sayre, but the promising drive was cut short when Canby quarterback Parker Viessman was sacked by Connor Kremin to force a punt. The Knights went on to capitalize with their second touchdown on a pass from Hess to Jonah Christensen to make it 13-0.

In need of a spark to curb the momentum, the Lancers broke through with their first of two touchdowns in the game at the midway point of the second quarter when Viessman capped off a long drive with a three-yard pass to junior wide receiver Will Varcoe to make it 13-6 following a missed extra point.

The touchdown by Varcoe looked as if it would be the final score of the half, but the Knights went back to the air with the clock winding down and marched down to the red zone where the drive momentarily stalled with less than a minute left. Staring down a fourth and long situation, RTR went for it all on a reverse-pass play that put the ball in the hands of Christiansen who found wide receiver Darrick Baartman wide open in the end zone for a touchdown just before halftime.

Early on in the second half, the Knights created some additional breathing room on the scoreboard with their fourth touchdown of the game on a rushing touchdown by Hess. The Lancers went on to add their final touchdown on the ensuing drive, but a touchdown pass from Hess to Christiansen put an end to their hopes of a comeback with the score 34-12 early in the fourth quarter. Before the game was over, the Knights added another touchdown to make it 40-12.

The Knights (1-3) will be back in action on their home field next Friday when they take on Yellow Medicine East. The Lancers (2-2) will travel to Madison for their next game against Lac qui Parle Valley at 7 p.m.