Kennedy Football

Battle-tested Cougars face No. 2 Bulldogs

Nobody can accuse the Kennedy Cougars of ducking any of the top Class 4A football teams in Eastern Iowa this season.

In fact, the Cougars have played the toughest schedule of anyone in these parts. By far.

Kennedy will try to upset second-ranked Bettendorf in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs Monday night. But win or lose, it will mean the Cougars will have faced all four of the No. 1 seeds from Eastern Iowa and all four of the No. 2 seeds.

Nobody else can say that.

Kennedy played Washington, Linn-Mar and Pleasant Valley during the regular season, and all three of them are No. 1 seeds in the playoffs as district champions. Now Bettendorf will complete the set as another No. 1 seed and district champ.

The Cougars also have faced Cedar Falls, Iowa City West, North Scott and Muscatine this year. All four of them were No. 2 seeds in the playoffs as a district runner-up.

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Schulz delivers as Cougars top Muskies

MUSCATINE - Mark Schulz was so distraught after missing a game-winning field goal against Jefferson earlier this year that he parked his car alongside the Kennedy practice field after the game, shined his headlights on the goal posts and worked on his kicking until 2 o'clock in the morning.

Practice made perfect.

Schulz split the uprights with a 27-yard field goal as time expired Wednesday night as Kennedy stunned Muscatine, 20-17, in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs at Muscatine.

Tailback Tyler Dralle had an immense game for the Cougars with 45 carries for 229 yards, sending Kennedy (3-7) into the second round at second-ranked Bettendorf (10-0) Monday night.

Schulz did not want to sleep after he misfired on a 33-yarder against Jefferson at Kingston Stadium and the J-Hawks prevailed, 27-24, in overtime.

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Lions are 'most improved' team in 4A

Linn-Mar football coach Bob Forsyth said in August that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the 2014 season and hopeful for a good year.

He may have underplayed his hand a bit.

Quite simply, Linn-Mar is the most improved team in Class 4A this year with a good chance of making a deep run in the playoffs.

The Lions finished with a 2-7 record in 2013 and improved to an 8-1 mark for the regular season this year. That's a gain of six victories and that plus-6 mark is the best among all 46 Class 4A teams in Iowa.

Lewis Central is next on the "most improved" list at plus-4, going from four victories in 2013 to eight wins in 2014.

Two Metro teams tied for third place in the "most improved" category at plus-3. The Washington Warriors jumped from 6-3 to 9-0 and the Jefferson J-Hawks climbed from 1-8 to 4-5.

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Cougars deserve cheers, not jeers

It would be easy to make fun of the Kennedy Cougars for making the Class 4A football playoffs with a 2-7 record, but that would be a big mistake.

First of all, the Kennedy players are not responsible for the new district format this year that made it possible for 2-7 clubs to advance. Administrators did that, not the athletes.

Secondly, the Cougars should be applauded for sticking with it and playing hard after a rough 0-6 start. They had to adjust to a new head coach and new offensive scheme, and they lost a couple of games they could have - maybe should have - won.

Kennedy began the season with a 12-9 setback at Iowa City City when the Trojans threw a 33-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-15 with 1:59 left in the game. Four weeks later, the Cougars missed a 33-yard field on the final play of the fourth quarter and fell to Jefferson, 27-24, in overtime

Two weeks ago, the Cougars scored a touchdown with 71 seconds left against Cedar Falls to pull within 21-20, but they unable to convert a two-point conversion and lost by a single point.

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