BETTENDORF - The Pleasant Valley defense probably did as solid a job against Tyler Dralle as you could possibly expect.
The Spartans held the leading rusher in Iowa Class 4A under 100 yards and made him scrap and battle for everything he got.
It was some of Dralle’s pals who ended up making the difference.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy got big plays from Austin Coates and Payton McCarty and a monster performance from lineman-turned-fullback Dalles Jacobus to claw out a weather-delayed 24-7 victory over Pleasant Valley on a moist and stormy Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
The game was delayed for 2 hours, 22 minutes because of lightning early in the second quarter and finished just before midnight with layers of moisture wafting horizontally across the playing field from the west.
Kennedy, now 4-0 and ranked sixth in Class 4A, had a 3-0 lead at the delay and finally took control of the contest with an 82-yard drive in the third quarter. Coach Brian White wasn’t surprised the Spartans (2-2) made his team resort to more than just Dralle to win the game.
"One thing we noticed about the PV defense is they like to play fast, which is what we like to do, too,’’ White said. “They have fast linebackers, fast defensive linemen. We knew we were going to be in for a battle, and we were.’’
In the end, the Spartans simply could not muster enough offense. They finished with 170 yards total and got their only touchdown on a 96-yard kickoff return by sophomore Arthur Braden just before halftime. Braden rushed for 89 yards, but he also had a pair of costly fumbles.
Kennedy scored early on Alexander Stone’s 31-yard field goal, which was set up by Coates’ 61-yard punt return, and they seemed to be in command when McCarty hauled in a 60-yard touchdown pass from Nick Duehr with 44 seconds left in the first half.
But Braden retreated to pick up the ensuing kickoff on a couple of bounces, then sprinted past the Cougars’ over-pursuing coverage unit and went all the way to make it 10-7 at halftime.
On Kennedy’s first possession of the second half, White put the 260-pound Jacobus and 200-pound Zachary DeMaris in the backfield in front of Dralle and simply hammered it down PV’s throat. With the big men mowing down defenders, Dralle carried 10 times and got 63 of the 96 yards he had in the game on a 12-play scoring drive.
Jacobus, who had several tackles for losses and a fumble recovery on defense, carried on the other two plays and the Cougars pushed their lead to 17-7.
"We’ve done that before this year,’’ White said. “There was a lot of wind and rain and we just decided to put it on the big guys and let them get it done for us.’’
The visitors added one more score with 3:03 remaining, after Braden’s second fumble. Jacobus lumbered into the end zone from three yards out for his third touchdown of the season.
PV’s option attack appeared to be clicking a few times in the first half but it lost 46 yards on two errant pitches by quarterback Terry Saul, resulting in third-and-38 and third-and-49 situations.
KENNEDY 24, PLEASANT VALLEY 7
Kennedy 3 7 7 7 - 24
Pleasant Valley 0 7 0 0 - 7
Scoring plays
CRK - Alexander Stone 31 field goal
CRK - Payton McCarty 60 pass Nick Duehr (Stone kick)
PV - Arthur Braden 96 kickoff return (Nick Schwake kick)
CRK - Tyler Dralle 1 run (Stone kick)
CRK - Dalles Jacobus 3 run (Stone kick)
. CRK PV
First downs 12 12
Rushes-yards 41-167 45-148
Passing yards 114 22
Comp-Att-Int 6-10-0 4-5-0
Punts-Avg. 4-48 6-38.2
Fumbles-lost 3-1 4-2
Penalties-yards 3-25 1-10
Individual statistics
Rushing
Kennedy - Tyler Dralle 26-96, Shaun Beyer 1-24, Dalles Jacobus 3-22, Payton McCarty 5-21, Nick Duehr 6-4.
Pleasant Valley - Arthur Braden 16-89, C.J. Carter 3-34, David Carr 4-19, Michael Berger 3-15, Terry Saul 19-minus 9.
Passing
Kennedy - Duehr 6-10-0-114
Pleasant Valley - Saul 4-5-0-22.
Receiving
Kennedy - Chase Baker 2-10, McCarty 1-60, Dralle 1-23, Zachary DeMaris 1-11, Beyer 1-10.
Pleasant Valley - Alex Rodruck 2-14, Cameron Walton 1-5, Chance Cary 1-3.
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