Eli Vasquez said he and his Johnson teammates missed too many opportunities against Riverside Military Academy in the first half.

Rather than dwell on those blown chances, the Knights used them as motivation.

Johnson scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to rout Riverside 31-7 on a soggy homecoming night Friday at Billy Ellis Memorial Stadium in Oakwood.

The victory snapped the Knights’ four-game losing streak.

“We had a chip on our shoulders because the plays were there on offense (in the first half),” said Vasquez, a senior lineman and team captain. “Defensively, the only reason (Riverside) scored is because we messed up one play and they got 50 yards on a jet (play), so I think we just came out focused (in the second half).

“We were mentally prepared and just physically put our will on them and actually ran the veer (offense) the way it’s supposed to be. The first half we missed some blocks we were supposed to make, but second half we fixed it.”

Johnson finished with 251 yards of total offense, including 179 on the ground. Junior running back Cody Long led the way with 67 rushing yards on 18 carries.

The Knights limited the Eagles (0-5) to 109 yards of total offense.

Kicker Isaac Henry helped get Johnson (2-4) off to a fast start in the second half when he delivered a pooch kick that the Knights recovered at Riverside’s 25-yard line. Sam Corbett hit wide receiver Orion Pittman (2 receptions, 68 receiving yards) with a 24-yard pass on the first play of the drive, then plunged into the end zone himself on a 1-yard keeper run on third-and-goal to put Johnson back on top, 14-7, with 10:27 remaining in the third quarter.

“(Assistant) coach (Mike) Holland does a great job with our special teams week in and week out,” Johnson coach Jason Roquemore said. “I feel like our kids are prepared through their scouting report. It’s just one of those situations where we feel like if we can be aggressive and take advantage of some of those things they’re going to give us, then we can make those plays.”

Armando Camacho gave the Knights an insurance touchdown near the end of the third quarter when he delivered a 12-yard touchdown run off left tackle to cap a 48-yard scoring drive.

Johnson put the game away early in the fourth quarter when sophomore defensive back A.T. Jones intercepted a pass and ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown that boosted the lead to 28-7 with 8:40 remaining in the game.

Henry supplied the Knights’ final points on a 22-yard field goal with 2:49 remaining.

“We went in at half, made some simple adjustments and just challenged our kids to come out, continue to be tough and play hard,” Roquemore said.

“Offensively that was probably one of our best halves of football this year. Defensively I thought we were consistent and tackled well, and that’s the key against a team like (Riverside).”

The Knights notched the first points of the game when Corbett capped a seven-play, 34-yard drive on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 3:43 remaining in the opening quarter.

Johnson had the chance to pad the lead after recovering a fumble at the Riverside 11 on the third play of the ensuing drive, but the Knights fumbled the ball back to the Eagles on the first play of their drive.

The Eagles answered early in the second quarter with a scoring drive that once had them backed up into third-and-29 at their own 9-yard line. Riverside quarterback Chandler Jones hit Daniel Herring on a 25-yard pass to make up most of that yardage, then got Johnson to jump offsides with a hard count on fourth-and-4.

Herring later broke a 50-yard run down to the Johnson 12, which led to a four-yard touchdown run by Kaseem Duke with 7:01 left before halftime.

“The last couple weeks we’ve been killing ourselves with fumbles, and we fumbled a couple times here, but our defense stepped up and that’s what we really needed,” Vasquez said. “We did really good as a team this week ... to get a win in front of our home crowd. Even though it was raining they still showed up, so I’m grateful.”

Knights 31, Eagles 7

Difference maker: Knights running back Cody Long didn't get in the end zone, but he kept the chains moving throughout the game and finished with 67 rushing yards.

Stat that matters: Johnson held Riverside to only 30 yards of offense after halftime.

Turning point: Johnson recovered a pooch kick at the Riverside 25-yard line on the opening kickoff of the second half, then converted the possession into a go-ahead touchdown. That marked the start of 24 unanswered points for the Knights in the second half.

Up next: Riverside will host Strong Rock Christian next Friday. Johnson has a bye next week before returning to action Oct. 9 at Osborne High School.