Birmingham’s Knox calls his success a team effort

Milton Knox fell one game shy of his ultimate goal for the 2007 season -- playing in the CIF state Division I championship bowl game against perennial power Concord De La Salle.

That was about the only goal Knox could not accomplish, and it was through no fault of his own.

The 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior capped his record-setting career by leading Lake Balboa Birmingham (13-1) to its second consecutive City Section Championship Division title, and third in four seasons.

He ran for 2,210 yards and 39 touchdowns this season, and the numbers could have been bigger if Knox had not been pulled from games in which the Patriots held comfortable leads -- and there were many of those.

His career totals of 6,695 rushing yards and 103 touchdowns are all-time City marks.

For these achievements, Knox has been named The Times’ back of the year.

When asked what he would remember most about the 2007 season, UCLA-bound Knox said it would be all the things that were accomplished -- by his team.

“This year was different from the others,” he said. “It was a year when every game felt special because everyone pulled together on offense, defense, special teams.

“It was like we all decided this was going to be the kind of season we would talk about 20 years from now.”

-- Mike Terry