UTICA, NY (WKTV) - With longtime rivals Rome Free Academy and Proctor each scoring three touchdowns in their latest matchup on Friday, the difference in the game turned out to be a backup kicker from Denmark.  Simon Kristensen, making his first kicking appearance in place of mono-stricken Andy D'Amore, made all three extra points while Proctor failed on an extra point and two two-point conversion attempts, giving the visiting Black Knights a 21-18 rain-soaked win at D'Alessandro Stadium.

As expected, the game was a back-and-forth battle.  Proctor struck first on its first possession of the game, with quarterback Kelly Olney hitting a streaking Devin Warmack for a 78-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

Rome came back in the second quarter with running back Kyle Kimball crossing the goal line from the 1, and Kristensen made it a 7-6 lead.  The Black Knights were helped on the drive by an offsides call on Proctor that turned a 4th and 1 at the Raiders' 34 into a 1st down.

The Raiders answered right back with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Olney to Warmack to go back up 12-7, but the Black Knights responded in kind, with Kimball rushing into the end zone from three yards out for a 14-12 lead at halftime.  The lead could have been bigger, but Kimball lost a fumble at the Proctor 1-yard line on the Knights' final drive of the half.

In the third quarter, Proctor again scored on its opening possession to take the lead.  At the Rome 13-yard line, Olney escaped pocket pressure to find D.J. Pearson, who stretched across the goal line to put the Raiders ahead 18-14.

But once again, Rome responded right away, this time using a trick play to re-take the lead.  At the Proctor 8-yard line, Kimball once again got a handoff, but this time he threw it to a wide-open Marco Dominic in the end zone, and another Kristensen kick put the Black Knights up 21-18.

Proctor's last good chance to score came late in the 4th quarter.  Facing 4th and 2 at their own 46-yard line, running back Jaivaughan Frazier busted out for a 28-yard run to the Rome 26.  An intentional grounding penalty, 13-yard pass, and recovered fumble later, Proctor had 4th and 8 at the 24.  Olney went for Warmack again in the end zone, but RFA's Zach Sjoblom deflected the pass to save the lead and, as it turned out, the game.

The Raiders got the ball back once more with 1:38 left at their own 20, but could not come up with a drive.

Kimball finished with 31 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns plus the passing score, while Dominic caught four passes for 71 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

RFA is now 2-0 overall; Proctor is 0-2. 

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