It was a tale of two halves for the Ripon Christian Knights in their Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI opener against visiting Center of the Pioneer Valley League.

RC, which held on for a 23-21 victory, will now face top-seeded Liberty Ranch next week.

The No. 4-seeded Knights (6-5) controlled the first half only to see the Cougars roar back in the final quarter.

"We're not surprised — Center has been (a comeback team) all year," said RC coach Phil Grams.

No. 5 Center (9-2) struggled in the first two quarters, managing just two first downs.

As for the Knights, junior Talen Tameling had a first-half to remember, intercepting two passes that led to scores.

"Our coaches gave us a great game plan," he said.

Tameling picked off that first one late in the first quarter, and subsequently booted 28-yard field goal to give his team a 10-0 lead.

RC took an early 7-0 lead when senior signal-caller Josiah Van Vliet found Noah Costa on a 20-yard scoring strike to cap an opening 11-play, 65-yard drive.

Meanwhile, Tameling's next theft came moments after his touchdown-saving tackle of Cougars' standout runner Anthony Casarez, who had a second-quarter 50-yard gain before being stopped at the Knights' 25 yard line.

Van Vliet's short pass to Jack Schaapman advanced the ball to the Center 10. A few plays later, Brayden Hughes scored from 6 yards out, making it 16-0 at that point.

The Cougars came out strong to open the third quarter. Casarez, who had a game-high 144 yards on 18 carries, picked up 43 of those right off the bat.

The Knights' defense was bend but don't break with Tameling and Jeremy Malloy coming up with some big stops to prevent Center from reaching the end zone.

But as the fourth quarter loomed, the Cougars began their comeback.

They took advantage of some RC penalties as Casarez delivered on a 3-yard TD run.

Center tacked on two more on the conversion as quarterback Sincere Howard connected with Wisdom Howard, cutting RC's lead in half, 16-8.

The Knights, however, answered back moments later as Schaapman found some running room, scoring on a 16-yard run to add to the lead, 23-8.

The Cougars fought back. Quarterback Howard found Bryce Lau on a 16-yard TD, trimming the lead, 23-14.

Center's defense came through with Oleksi Amelin recovered a fumble at the RC 12.

The Knights managed to push the Cougars back thanks to penalties and a sack by Sammy Bruno.

At the 1:49 mark, Sincere Winslow once again found Wisdom Howard for the score. Nadeem Shams' extra-point kick made it a two-point game, 23 -21.

The Knights were unable to do much offensively on that last possession, relying on their defense to close out the game.

With time winding down, RC's Myles Pollard delivered the big blow with a sack that consumed most of those closing seconds.

"It was all my teammates who put me in that position — we needed a big play," he said.

Pollard credits the regular season as well for preparing his team for moments like these.

"The (tough) Trans-Valley League got us ready," he added.

Schaapman led RC with 86 yards on 17 carries. Van Vliet completed 8 of his 15 passes for 78 yards and a TD.

RC is hoping that history will repeat itself next Friday in Galt. The Knights staged an upset of Liberty Ranch a year ago.