Kennedy Football

Cougars clobber J-Hawks, 44-0

Disappointment turned to domination Friday night for the Kennedy football team.

The Cougars, reeling with five straight losses to start the season, steamrolled Jefferson, 44-0, for a happy homecoming in a Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division game at Kingston Stadium.

Senior Alex Hillyer ran 23 times for 159 yards and three touchdowns for Kennedy (1-5, 1-2). Senior Riley Fergus completed 6 of 12 passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Patrick Martin caught three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

"It was a great team effort," Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis said. "I'm proud of the kids for hanging in there. I think a lot of times when you have the expectations that we did to start the season and you go 0-5, a lot of kids jump ship.

"I think they've been hearing negative things in the hallway, and maybe even at home. But they just kept buying in to what we were selling."

The Cougars rolled up 242 yards of rushing offense and 339 total yards.

"The offensive line has been doing a good job all year," said Hillyer, who scored on runs of 38, 3 and 10 yards. "They were opening up big holes."

"This was a huge game for us," Fergus said. "Getting that zero off our backs was really important."

As good as the offense was, the defense played even better.

Jefferson (1-5, 1-3) was held to minus-23 yards rushing in 27 carries and had 48 total yards. The J-Hawks did not achieve a first down until midway through the third quarter, when they trailed 30-0.

"It's very disappointing," Jefferson Coach Brian Webb said. "I thought our kids were ready to play, but it just comes down to execution and fundamentals.

"I sound like a broken record, but you have to be able to block, you to be able to tackle. You have to be able to do those fundamental things that we're struggling to do right now."

The result was total domination by the Cougars.

"We had a lot of fun," said Fergus, who also plays some linebacker in addition to quarterbacking the offense. "Our coaches did a good job of staying on us this week and we got a lot of good senior leadership that lit a fire under us. We were just flying around having a lot of fun."

Kennedy did something it hasn't done all year to start the game. After winning the pregame coin toss, the Cougars chose to receive the opening kickoff.

"We usually defer and I've been telling coach we need to take the ball so we can get some points and get ahead," Hillyer said.

It turned out to be a wise move. Hillyer took the opening kickoff and returned it 43 yards to the Jefferson 37.

The Cougars drove to the Jefferson 18 and on fourth-and-3 elected to try a 37-yard field goal.

"When I called for the field goal a couple of coaches kind of looked at me funny," Lewis said of his decision to let Eric Bertroche attempt the field goal. "I wanted points on the board. I wanted, for the first time this year, to be ahead in a game. I wanted to get some momentum."

Bertroche banged the ball through the uprights for a 3-0 lead barely two minutes into the game.

And Kennedy unleashed its defense.

Jefferson went three-and-out its first two possessions and punted.

Kennedy got the second punt on its own 38. Four plays later, Hillyer scampered 38 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

The rout was on.

An interception by Kennedy's Donovan Kosman gave the Cougars the ball back at the Jefferson 40.

The Cougars had a third-and-15 from the 45 when Fergus arced a bomb over the head of Jefferson corner Blake Bernhauer and into the hands of a leaping Martin, who gathered the ball at the 10 and spun untouched into the end zone for a 17-0 lead one play into the second quarter.

Hillyer's 3-yard plunge gave the Cougars a 24-0 lead at halftime.

Hillyer scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter, and Fergus threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Miles Moa 45 seconds into the fourth quarter that started a continuous clock.

The Cougars finished their scoring on a 51-yard interception return by Triston Christopher with 7:19 left in the game.

"We'll see if we turned the corner," Lewis said. "We'll see if they enjoyed that enough tonight to do it again."

Kennedy plays at Waterloo East next Friday night.

Jefferson hosts Washington at Kingston Stadium next Friday.

KENNEDY 44, JEFFERSON 0

First downs -- CRJ 6; CRK 18  
Rushes-yards -- CRJ 27-(-23); CRK 40-242        
Passing yards -- CRJ 71; CRK 97   
Comp-att-int -- CRJ 8-20-2; CRK 6-13-0   
Punts-avg. -- CRJ 7-37.4; CRK 2-37.5   
Fumbles-Lost -- CRJ 1-0; CRK 0-0  
Penalties-yards -- CRJ 5-34; CRK 8-65

Jefferson            0      0      0     0   --     0
Kennedy            10    14     6    14  --    44

CRK - FG Eric Bertroche 37
CRK - Alex Hillyer 38 run (Bertroche kick)
CRK - Patrick Martin 45 pass from Riley Fergus (Bertroche kick)
CRK - Hillyer 3 run (Bertroche kick)
CRK - Hillyer 10 run (kick failed)
CRK - Miles Moa 10 pass from Fergus (Bertroche kick)
CRK - Triston Christopher 51 interception return (Bertroche kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing
CRJ -  Michael Moncivais 5-30, Hunter Kloubec 1-0, Ben Koering 1-(-1), Tim Larson 1-(-1),  Nick O'Connell 7-(-14), Layne Sullivan 11-(-24), Team 1-(-13)
CRK - Alex Hillyer 23-159, Terrence Hall 6-52, Miles Moa 9-40, Riley Fergus 2-(-9)

Passing
CRJ - Sullivan 8-20-2-71
CRK - Fergus 6-12-0-97, Hillyer 0-1-0-0

Receiving
CRJ - Moncivais 3-16, Kloubec 2-33, Peter Watson 1-12, Colton Cortez 1-7, Will Orr 1-3
CRK - Patrick Martin 3-64, Jacob Frazier-Flores 1-16, Moa 1-10, Hillyer 1-7

Sophs -- Kennedy 20, Jefferson 13

Schulte, Woods set records as Saints roll

Reggie Schulte began asking his father to diagram football plays for him when he was in the fifth grade and a ballboy for the Xavier Saints.

He learned his lessons well.

Schulte tossed four touchdown passes Friday night as No. 4 Xavier blanked Kennedy, 35-0, in a 42nd Street mismatch at the Saints Field.

Schulte tied school records for most touchdown passes in a single game (4) and most touchdowns passes in a season (18) and expanded his own school mark for most TD strikes in a career (30).

Corbin Woods, his lifelong pal, caught two touchdown passes against the winless Cougars to give him 12 in his career, putting his name in the Xavier record book as well.

Schulte hit 15 of 19 passes for 197 yards before retiring with a 35-0 cushion after three quarters, continuing his string of outstanding games. He's completed 76.7 percent of his passes this year with only one interception.

Duane Schulte, the quarterback's father and Xavier's head coach, calls the plays and his son runs them to near-perfection. And make no mistake, the father likes what he's seen so far. So does the coach.

"I don't think it's possible to set aside the fact I'm his dad and his coach," he said in an interview this week. "Speaking strictly coaching-wise, I'm super proud of him.

"I've thought about it," said Schulte. "If he was anyone else's kid, what would you say? I'd say, so far - knock on wood, not to jinx him - that he's done everything we've asked."

Reggie Schulte, Woods and a bunch of their buddies used to play football games in Schulte's backyard when they were younger. They wore out the grass, but Woods said Mr. Schulte never complained.

"Absolutely not," said Woods. "He encouraged it, if anything. He loved having us around. Maybe not inside the house, but we were definitely outside of the house playing."

Schulte has thrown four touchdown passes in three games this year, tying the single-game mark he shares with Andy Didio (2010). His 18 TD passes this year equal Joe Sayre's record from 2009, and his 30 career TD passes are 10 more than Dan Schmall threw in 2006 and 2007, according to Xavier's record book.

Woods caught five TD passes last year has seven this season, snapping the former career mark of 10 set by Ryan Sander in 2008 and 2009.

The Saints ran their record to 5-0 while Kennedy fell to 0-5, two 42nd Street neighbors who are heading in opposite directions.

The fun began for Xavier when Schulte hit Bryce Grimm with a 24-yard touchdown pass on the Saints' first possession of the game. It became 14-0 early in the second quarter when Brendan Miller scooted for a six-yard score.

The Saints made it 21-0 late in the first half when Schulte hit Woods with a perfect 37-yard bomb in the end zone.

Xavier grabbed a 28-0 lead in the third quarter when Schulte lobbed a 3-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-8 tight end Matt Nelson. The Saints began that possession on the Kennedy 10-yard line after a 50-yard punt return by Trey Sampson.

Schulte finished the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Woods on the final play of the third quarter for a 35-0 bulge. That ignited a continuous clock and the fourth quarter zipped by in a hurry with Xavier's starters watching from the sidelines.

Schulte connected with eight different receivers as he spread the wealth around. Woods and Grimm are his preferred targets, but he doesn't play favorites. He'll pass the ball to anyone.

"I guess whoever's open," he said. "It sounds cliche, but I guess that's the right answer. Whoever's open.

"No matter who it is, I trust the guys to make plays and they did a great job tonight, like they have been all year."

Miller ran for 102 yards on 17 carries to complement the passing attack. He's subbing for Cal Stovie, who watched the game in a wheelchair after having surgery this week to fix a torn ACL.

Kennedy did not have nearly enough weapons to stick with the Saints. The Cougars finished with just 171 yards of total offense, and 53 of those yards came on a pass play in the fourth quarter when they were already trailing by 35 points.

Kennedy tailback Alex Hillyer, averaging 150 yards per game when the night began, carried the ball 29 times for 81 yards. He gained 78 yards in the first half with two big runs, but had only three yards in the second half.

The Saints held the Cougars to 171 yards and zero points, but Xavier linebacker Craig Murtha was not satisfied.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Murtha. "We did a really bad job, actually, in the first half. We have a lot of improvement to make.

"Xavier football has always been about having a tough defense," he said. "We're just trying to continue that and play as hard as we can every single down."

At times, it seemed like Daniel Vega, Emiliano Martinez, Murtha and others were in the Kennedy backfield before Kennedy quarterback Riley Fergus had a chance to breathe.

"I think it was a good effort," said Martinez. "Our scout team gave us a good look all week. It was like we were playing Kennedy every day in practice."

Practice made perfect.

"We were really worried about Kennedy," said Coach Schulte. "They're a big, strong, fast team. And so for our guys to come in here and get a win like this is a credit to our kids."

The Saints (5-0) will face Washington on Thursday night at Kingston Stadium. The Cougars (0-5) host Jefferson Friday night at Kingston for homecoming.

Kennedy held Xavier to its lowest point total of the season, but it hardly mattered. The Saints have outscored their five opponents, 233-35.

XAVIER 35, KENNEDY 0

CRK       CRX

First Downs       7         11
Rushing           29-81     29-124
Passing           8-20-1    15-19-0
Passing Yards     90        197
Punts             8-36.4    5-34.4
Fumbles/Lost      1/0       1/0
Penalties         3-35      8-70

Kennedy      0   0   0   0 - 0
Xavier       7  14  14   0 - 35

Scoring Plays

CRX - Bryce Grimm 24 pass from Reggie Schulte (Ryan Persick kick)
CRX - Brendan Miller 6 run (Persick kick)
CRX - Corbin Woods 37 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
CRX - Matt Nelson 3 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
CRX - Woods 6 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)

Individual Stats

Rushing
Kennedy: Hillyer 21-82, Boomershine 1-3, Moa 1-minus 1, Fergus 6-minus 3.
Xavier: Miller 17-102, Schulte 4-12, Jones 3-7, Hammerberg 2-4, Krouse 1-1, Team 2-minus 2.

Passing
Kennedy: Fergus 8-20-1, 90 yards.
Xavier: Schulte 15-19-0, 197 yards.

Receiving
Kennedy: Martin 4-35, Frazier-Flores 1-53, Hall 1-4, Smetzer 1-minus 1, Hillyer 1-minus 1.
Xavier: Woods 4-70, Grimm 3-48, Miller 2-34, Jones 2-8, Vega 1-18, Moore 1-13, Nelson 1-3, Gardner 1-3.

Kennedy falls to Dubuque Senior, 21-14

DUBUQUE - Dubuque Senior scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters and held on to defeat Kennedy, 21-14, in Mississippi Valley Conference football Friday night in Dubuque.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 0-4 for the campaign.

Senior (4-0, 2-0) scored on 5- and 1-yard runs by Parker Hammel to take a 14-0 lead in the first half. And on its first possession in the second half, the Rams executed a snappy 72-yard scoring drive
that culminated in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Austin Clemens to Andrew Conzett.

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Cougars dumped by No. 5 Trojans, 35-14

The Kennedy Cougars thought they could cover Iowa City West receiver Jeremy Morgan with somebody six inches shorter Thursday night.

They came up a mile short.

Nate Boland lobbed two touchdown passes to the 6-foot-6 Morgan on Iowa City West's first two possesions and the No. 5 Trojans left Kingston Stadium with a 35-14 victory over the winless and frustrated Cougars.

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