WATERLOO - The 125 Kennedy fans who braved the frigid weather in Waterloo Friday night left Memorial Stadium with a warm feeling inside.

So did the Cougars.

Kennedy scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter and rallied for a 38-30 victory in a Mississippi Valley Conference game.

The Cougars (2-5, 2-2) trailed, 30-21, entering the final stanza but got a key field goal from Eric Bertroche and two touchdowns by Alex Hillyer as the temperature dipped into the upper 30's.

Coach Tim Lewis said he'll remember the victory for the way his team kept battling back.

"I think sometimes when you're 1-and-5 and you get down, you just have a tendency to slow down," he said. "I was really proud of our kids for not doing that."

Hillyer was a workhorse with 32 carries for 145 yards. Quarterback Riley Fergus hit some key passes to loosen the Waterloo East defense and give Hillyer more room to run.

"The thing I'll remember is the way we came together at halftime," said Fergus, who doubled as a defensive back for Kennedy. "The first half did not go how we wanted at all. We came together the second half and got things going well."

Kennedy held the Trojans (4-3, 2-2) to 74 yards on the ground and survived an aerial onslaught by Desmond Van Arsdale, who completed 13 of 30 passes for 258 yards.

Kennedy got a string of big plays from its special teams in the victory, leading to 24 of the team's 38 points.

A 37-yard punt return by Donovan Kosman led to a 12-yard touchdown run by fullback Terrance Hall. A blocked punt led to a 28-yard touchdown pass from Fergus to Jacob Frazier-Flores, and a 27-yard punt return by Miles Moa led to a 27-yard field goal by Bertroche that pulled the Cougars within 30-24 in the fourth quarter.

Kennedy grabbed a 31-30 lead with 5:04 remaining when Hillyer capped a 65-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown and Bertroche nailed the PAT.

Then came another big play by the special teams to help clinch the win.

Bertroche kicked off and Hall, a sophomore recently promoted to the varsity, smacked Waterloo East's Kelvin Clark and knocked the ball loose. Kennedy recovered at the 30-yard line and scored on a 4-yard scamper by Hillyer for the 38-30 final margin.

Hillyer carried all four times on the decisive 30-yard drive and scored with 3:23 left.

Waterloo East went nowhere on its final possession and Kennedy took over on downs at the Trojans' 29-yard line with 2:36 left. The Cougars drove to the 3-yard line in the final minute and probably could have scored another touchdown, but Fergus took a knee and time expired.

Waterloo East scored 30 points in the first three quarters, but Kennedy's defense limited the Trojans to just 19 yards and zero points in the fourth period.

"We kept hitting them and going after them and eventually it came out on our side," said Grant Miller, a 180-pound defensive lineman who helped lead the surge.

The happy Cougars danced the Hokey Pokey in the locker room and gave a final cheer when Lewis gave them the weekend off to relax and enjoy the victory.

Kennedy hosts Dubuque Hempstead next Friday and finishes the regular season at Iowa City High on Oct. 19. The Cougars own a modest two-game winning streak after beating Jefferson last week, but Lewis does not think a 3-and-6 record will be good enough to make the playoffs.

"I'd be surprised," he said. "We're just going to try and win out, obviously."

KENNEDY 38, WATERLOO EAST 30

CRK       WE

First Downs    16       18
Rushing        45-211   29-74
Passing        7-15-1   13-31-0
Passing Yards  95       258
Punts          4-46.5   4-37.5
Penalties      8-90     8-62
Fumbles/Lost   3/2      2/1

Kennedy           0   14   7   17 - 38
Waterloo East  7   13  10    0 - 30

SCORING PLAYS

WE - Desmond Van Arsdale 2 run (Juan Martinez kick)
WE - FG Martinez 38
CRK - Terrance Hall 12 run (Eric Bertroche kick)
WE - Russell Jones 10 pass from Van Arsdale (Martinez kick)
CRK - Jacob Frazier-Flores 28 pass from Riley Fergus (Bertroche kick)
WE - Martinez 28 FG
WE - Aaron Taylor 8 run (Martinez kick)
CRK - Fergus 1 run (Bertroche kick)
WE - Martinez 34 FG
CRK - Bertroche 27 FG
CRK - Alex Hillyer 3 run (Bertroche kick)
CRK - Hillyer 4 run (Bertroche kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
KENNEDY: Hillyer 32-145, Hall 5-33, Moa 2-19, Fergus 5-16, Team 1-minus 2.
WATERLOO EAST: Taylor 11-35, Van Arsdale 16-26, Johnson 1-7, Riley 1-6.

PASSING
KENNEDY: Fergus 7-15-1-95.
WATERLOO EAST: Van Arsdale 13-30-0-258; Magnuson 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING
KENNEDY: Boomershine 3-33, Frazier-Flores 1-28, Pins 1-28, Moa 1-5, Hillyer 1-1.
WATERLOO EAST: Middleton 5-113, Riley 2-52, Jones 2-45, Horton 2-33, Hewitt 2-15.