Junior quarterback Caleb Jakubczak leads Eisenhower in passing and rushing heading into the Knights’ third game of the season tonight. Times Observer photo by Steve Younger

The Eisenhower Knights take to the road tonight when they travel to Erie to face the Iroquois Braves in their first Region 3 game of the young season.

The Knights got their first win of the season last week in a 14-13 thriller. Eisenhower used the arm and legs of quarterback Caleb Jakubczak, who threw the first touchdown pass of his career to Tanner Lookenhouse and also added his first career kickoff return for a touchdown when he raced 80 yards to the end zone.

Jakubczak has connected on 8 of 23 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown, also also leads the Knights in rushing with 15 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown for a healthy 9.6 yards per carry.

Junior running back Logan Penley is hot on his quarterback’s heels and has rushed for 130 yards on 21 carries for a 6.2-yard average per carry.

Meanwhile, the Braves also bring in a 1-1 record into the game having beaten Cochranton in their opener 40-6 before dropping last week’s game to Conneaut 33-21.

Knights head coach Jim Penley is impressed with this Iroquois team.

“They have made tremendous progress the last two years and are vastly improved,” he said. “Their numbers are outstanding and their play on the field has been a benefactor of that.”

Offensively, the Braves use a fast, athletic backfield to move the ball and are led by a pair of backs that are identical in size and speed; Mohammed Al-Hchaimi and Ethan Alderson, who are both 5-foot-5 and around 130 pounds. They run behind a big, aggressive offensive line that averages 230 pounds.

“Their line up front is where they’ve improved the most. They are very physical,” Penley said. “They get off the line of scrimmage and use their aggression to move the line. We must be able to hold the line of scrimmage.”

Defensively, the Knights must also own the line of scrimmage.

“We will have to be able to control the line of scrimmage to try and keep them off the field,” Penley said, “to combat their aggressive style of play.”

The Knights need to cut down on their mistakes to put themselves in the best position to win the game.

Coach Penley has seen improvement in his team and knows this will be a tough test for his Knights.

“We have worked very hard this week to eliminate the penalties we’ve had and to know our different schemes,” he said. “I have faith that we have been working very hard to see improvement and get better, and this time of year improvement must be seen every day.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at 4301 Main St. in Erie.