Sports Writer

Things couldn't get much better for the Upson-Lee Knights' soccer team.

The Knights continued their perfect start to the 2003 season Friday night as they cruised to a 7-0 victory over Eagles Landing.

But the game was close early.

After going 10 minutes without scoring, the Knights finally broke through and took a 1-0 lead with just over 28 minutes left in the first half, as senior Jack Sisterson scored his 52nd career goal. And the route was on.

Ten minutes after Sisterson gave the Knights' the 1-0 lead, Will Bentley added to it as the Knights took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half. But the Knights' first-half scoring wasn't done yet.

Upson-Lee freshman Jonathan Hall gave the Knights a 3-0 lead with 16 minutes left in the first half as the Knights scored two goals in a two-minute span.

With 6:20 left in the first half, the Knights' were able to slam the door on Eagles Landing as they scored two goals in less than a minute to close out the first half.

Brandon Logue's goal with 6:20 left in the first half gave the Knights a 4-0 lead, and Joey Cook capped of a first half scoring clinic with the Knights' fifth goal with 5:32 left in the first half.

After going over 20 minutes without scoring in the second half, Bentley scored his second goal of the game with 17:57 left to play as the Knights went up 6-0.

Sisterson put the finishing touches on struggling Eagles Landing with just four minutes left in the game, as he capped off the night's scoring.

"I thought Eagles Landing started very competitive," Upson-Lee head coach John Sisterson said. "But it seemed like once we scored our third goal, they just gave up. That is something I don't want to see from our team. I believe that if we were in that same situation, that we would keep fighting and find a way to get back in the game. We have been able to fluster a lot of teams so far this season with our style of play. We like to play a fast-paced game and get the ball down the field, and a lot of teams don't seem to have an answer for that."

While the Knights' scorers will get most of the glory out of the seven-goal win, it's the wing players that should get a bulk of the credit.

"I thought Joey Cook and Kyle McGee both played good games out there," Coach Sisterson said. "They have both gotten off to great starts so far this season. Joey has been playing great for the past three or four games. I can't say enough about how well they have been playing. Joey was named player of the week for us this week. I also thought Jack, Will and Jonathan had a good game. Jonathan scored on a great header. He is still young and making some mistakes, but he is getting better with every game."

Anytime you are winning the way the Knights were Friday night, it allows a coach to go deep on his bench and get more players playing time, and Coach Sisterson took full advantage, as he gave all his reserves playing time in the blow-out win.

"It's always good to get everybody in the game," Coach Sisterson said. "It gives the guys that don't get much of a chance to play some quality playing time."

With most of the Knights' reserves on the defensive end of the field, Coach Sisterson was forced to rotate his starters back on the offensive end to keep a balance.

"The only reason we had Jack and some of the other starters out there at the end of the game was to balance the attack a little," Coach Sisterson said. "We had our third keeper on the field and a lot of our subs out there and we wanted to try to balance that out with a strong offensive end so we could control the ball as much as possible."

The Knights, who are currently 5-0 on the season, host Spalding High School Tuesday night as they prepare for their region opener Friday night against Kendrick. Tuesday night's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Matthews Field.