WATERLOO – The final chapter of the first perfect regular season in Cedar Rapids Kennedy football history was written with the same fine ink the Cougars used on their journey here.
Stellar, unbending defense, dominating running, timely play action passing and exceptional third down execution on both sides of the ball told the familiar story of Kennedy overwhelming yet another opponent.
In fittingly imperfect, gloomy playing conditions Friday night -- a steady cold mist and light fog -- the Cougars capped off their improbable and historic historic 9-0 season with a 39-13 jet sweep past an undermanned Waterloo West team at Waterloo Memorial Stadium.
With Nick Duehr throwing for two touchdowns and Shaun Beyer sprinting for 166 yards off big wildcat formation plays, the Class 4A District 5 champion Cougars (9-0, 5-0) roared past the Wahawks and into Wednesday's first-round playoff game.
“We're the first undefeated regular season team in Kennedy history,” Beyer said. “There's no greater feeling right now.”
This remarkable undefeated success story is being written by a program that went just 3-7 in 2014.
“If you would have told me a year ago we'd go undefeated during the season I would have told you you're crazy,” Duehr said.
Missing both starting quarterback Devon Moore (done for the year with a broken leg) and big-play No. 1 wide receiver Trey Burt (sidelined following knee surgery to repair a damaged meniscus), the Wahawks (3-6, 0-5) were facing an uphill 500-yard march to try to stay in their daunting season finale.
“I told the kids this is our state championship game,” Wahawks coach Lonnie Moore said. “... We could have folded after losing to Linn-Mar (last week) and said, 'Our season is over.' It would have been easy.
“But when it comes to our seniors, they were going to fight to the end.”
The Wahawks fought like crazy to the finish, but they were fighting against the metro champ, the district champ and one of just three undefeated teams remaining in Class 4A.
Kennedy's defense made all the stops it needed to stay in control from the first quarter to the finish. West's only dangerous offensive life in the first half came when when John Draine (105 yards on 10 carries) took its second play from scrimmage 56 yards before Beyer tripped him up at the 32 with a touchdown-saving tackle.
The Cougar defense responded by stuffing the Wahawks on their next three plays and a minus 10-yard loss before forcing a punt.
When the Kennedy defense and special teams units needed to make plays when pressed, they delivered. Matt Gardner intercepted Levi Lenius when the Wahawks drove to the Kennedy 33 on their following drive. West's next drive short-circuited before it could begin when the Cougars covered West's muffed punt return.
“Hats off to Waterloo West. They battled,” Kennedy coach Brian White said. “But in the end our kids bulled up and got done what we needed to get done.”
Even the football gods appear to be on the Cougars' side in this magical campaign. West's exhausted defense appeared poised to deny Kennedy inside the red zone when Duehr went looking for Austin Coates at the goal line over the middle in heavy traffic.
Duehr's off-line pass was tipped high by a Wahawk defensive back and straight into the hands of a waiting Coates, who jogged into the end zone for a 20-yard, look-what-I-found-on-fourth-down touchdown reception and a 12-0 Kennedy lead with 9:03 left before halftime.
Following two three-and-out stands by the Cougars' defense, Kennedy upped its advantage to a commanding 19-0 when Duehr found Chase Baker all alone by 10 yards in the left flat on a beautifully executed play action 22-yard touchdown strike with 2:53 left before intermission.
As the fog intensified to begin the third quarter, West came alive on both sides of the ball. Harrison Eighmey broke away for a 32-yard score on the half's fourth play, and the Wahawk defense followed with a three-and-out hold.
But Kennedy -- using the grinding, chain-churning yardage of tailback Tyler Dralle -- who hard trucked for 99 yards on 26 carries, reclaimed momentum on a long 11-play drive that culminated in Alex Stone's 35-yard field goal through the thickening fog with 4:45 left in the third.
The Cougars stuck the dagger with 2:50 left in the third when Beyer completely riddled the packed-in West defense, taking a Wildcat formation snap and blazing away untouched down the right sideline on an 86-yard touchdown dash. Kennedy's power running game roared for 343 yards on 52 carries.
“That's something we had in our back pocket,” White said. “Shaun got some good blocks, he followed his seams, and Shaun in the open field is pretty hard to catch.”
Stone added another 35-yard field goal and senior tailback Lucas Berry broke into the end zone late on a 1-yard run in the fourth. When the clock hit triple zeros, the Cougar party started. It was a loud, joyous bus ride home.
Kennedy's wowing perfect regular season -- which would have been dubbed "Mission: Impossible" by the most optimistic Cougar fans just a year ago -- is complete. The Cougars are onto the next mission, and playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“They have a dream,” White said. “There are 31 other teams tonight (in Class 4A) who have that same dream. What we need to do is continue to get better.
“... If you want to get the big prize, you have to go through everybody and get better.”
The Cougars now head to practice Saturday afternoon focusing not on state gold, but just becoming a better football team.
Because after all, Beyer noted: “That's what champions do. They get better every day.”
. KEN WW
First downs 16 9
Rushes-yards 52-343 44-261
Passing yards 138 118
Comp-Att-Int 9-18-0 9-17-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1
Punts-avg. 3-23.1 3-30.2
Penalties-yards 4-38.5 5-42.5
Kennedy 6 13 10 10 - 39
Waterloo West 0 0 7 6 - 13
Scoring plays
K – Tyler Dralle 1 run (kick failed)
K – Austin Coates 20 pass from Nick Duehr (run failed)
K – Chase Baker 45 pass from Duehr (Alex Stone kick)
WW – Harrison Eighmey 32 run (Adijan Muhamedagic kick)
K – Stone 35 FG
K – Shaun Beyer 86 run (Stone kick)
K – Stone 35 FG
WW – John Draine 23 run (kick blocked)
K – Lucas Berry 1 run (Stone kick)
Individual statistics
Passing
Kennedy – Nick Duehr 9-18-0, 138.
Waterloo West – Levi Lenius 9-17-1,118.
Rushing
Kennedy – Shaun Beyer 5-166, Tyler Dralle 26-99, Zach DeMaris 6-33, Lucas Berry 4-21, Chase Baker 3-8, Duehr 7-7, Tyler Baker 1-9.
Waterloo West – John Draine 10-105, Harrison Eighmey 8-44, Ashanti Williams 2-2, Lenius 14-2.
Receiving
Kennedy – Shaun Beyer 3-40, Austin Coates 2-42, Chase Baker 1-45, DeMaris 2-10, Chandler Poell 1-(-3).
Waterloo West – Tymaine Beaman 3-14, Tayshaun Cooper 2-57, Tyler Banker 2-10, Eighmey 1-18, Draine 1-9.
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