Notre Dame OL commit Anthonie Knapp analyzes his performance in an emotional win
It was an moving night at Roswell (Ga.) High Sept. 1, as the Hornets retired the jersey of the late Robbie Roper, who tragically passed away in December of 2021 due to a rare hereditary condition. Roper was a class of 2022 quarterback with several scholarship offers.
Roper was honored pregame, and then his team went out and crushed Marietta (Ga.) High 51-14.
“It’s been a very emotional night,” said Notre Dame class of 2024 offensive line commit Anthonie Knapp, who is in his third year starting at Roswell, after the game. “It was our 500th win in school history, and we retired his No. 5 jersey. It was tender in the locker room with everyone holding in their emotions, but we locked in tonight, and it was something we can keep in our hearts.”
When Roper was a senior, Knapp was a sophomore. Roper was influential in getting Knapp acclimated with some of their teammates.
“When it came to football, I was a very quiet kid,” Knapp explained. “I did my own thing and stayed with my own group. I was focused on myself; it was all new to me. But Robbie helped me bond with the other guys.”
It was an up and down outing for Knapp Friday night. He dominated in the first quarter with several impressive blocks from his left tackle position, including a pancake on the first play from scrimmage. He had some struggles in the second quarter with a holding call to save a sack on his quarterback. There were also a couple of coverage sacks that were caused by rushers assigned to Knapp, but there wasn’t much the Irish pledge could’ve done differently on those plays.
“I’ve definitely had better games,” Knapp said. “I didn’t have too many knockdowns, and I could’ve done better fundamentally. I’m excited for next week because I’m going to learn a lot from this game.”
Knapp was briefly subbed out in the second quarter for an unsportsmanlike penalty due to some trash talking to a Marietta defender, as Knapp was sticking up for one of his players. Unfortunately for the 6-4, 278-pounder, the referee was standing right next to him while he was jawing at the opposition.
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“I’ll have to deal with that on Monday, that’s for sure,” Knapp said.
Knapp will likely play as an interior offensive lineman at Notre Dame, but at the high school level, he plays left tackle and also moves over to the right side of the line at times to create an unbalanced line. It was successful to create big runs Friday evening.
“We do that often,” said Knapp. “We call it tackle over — where I move over to tight end and am a lead blocker. We scored on an outside zone on that play tonight. It’s one of our best plays.”
Knapp ranks as the nation’s No. 349 overall player and No. 26 interior offensive lineman according to the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Per On3’s own rankings, he ranks as the No. 184 player and No. 9 interior lineman in America.
Roswell (Ga.) High is off to a 3-0 start this season. They have a key matchup next Friday against Milton (Ga.) High, another powerhouse in the Peach State.
