Kennedy Kentwood Game Recap – 9/19/2022
The Kennedy Catholic Lancers visited the Kentwood Conquerors on Thursday, September 15; it was the first conference game of the season for both teams. Kennedy Catholic opened the season by splitting non-conference games with a 26-14 loss to Eastside Catholic and a 41-6 win over Highline. Kentwood opened with two non-conference losses to Lakes 50-23 and Peninsula 31-7. Based on the opening games, Kennedy was the favorite in this match-up.
Kennedy Catholic opened strong with 37 points in the first half and cruised to a 44-13 victory over what is usually a very strong Kentwood team. Now with three losses, the Conquerors may have a tough run at a repeat of last year’s playoff appearance. The Lancers appear to be getting in stride for a run at what could be a special season. The next three games will give us an early look at how good Kennedy will be in 2022.
The opening score for Kennedy Catholic was a shuffle pass from quarterback Devon Forehand to running back Zach Schell, who took it 24 yards to the end zone. Sophomore Devon Forehand was handling the quarterback duties for Kennedy Catholic in his first appearance of the season. He ended the night with four touchdown passes in the victory, adding 36, 26, and 22-yard touchdown passes. The second score for Kennedy Catholic was by the defense, who did their part all game long to stop any chance of Kentwood mounting a significant challenge.
Linebacker Maurice Scott forced a fumble, and fellow linebacker Xe’Ree Alexander scooped it up and rambled into the end zone. The Lancers were up 14-0 and starting to take control of the game. The defense also added another score late in the game on a bad snap by Kentwood that was recovered in the end zone by defensive end Derek Coleman-Brusa, sealing the 44-13 win.
Kentwood had some big plays that unfortunately went both ways. A long pass completion would be wiped out by a turnover on the ensuing series of plays. Running back Antoine Lee had some nice long runs that were stopped before the Conquerors could put the ball in the end zone. The classic misfortune for Kentwood was a run by Lee where it looked like he would be tackled for a loss, but he escaped and ran 47 yards to the Lancer 18-yard line, then while being tackled, he lost the ball on a fumble forced by a hustling Derek Coleman-Brusa on defense.
Next Saturday, September 24, at 1:00 PM, Kennedy Catholic plays the Decatur Golden Gators; this is the first game the Lancers will play in their home field.
Kennedy Catholic was the official home team against Eastside Catholic, but the game was played at Seattle Center. Against the Highline Pirates, the Lancers were the visiting team to a match at Highline Memorial Stadium, a field that both teams share. Kennedy Catholic coach Sheldon Cross was looking forward to a “real” home game and commented, “1st Saturday game of the season! Back at our Home!!!”.
Decatur opened the season with two non-conference wins beating Jefferson 28-14 and Beamer 30-0. Their first conference game was a loss last Friday against a Kentridge team that pushed the Golden Gators around 47-14. Decatur scored first, but Kentridge then shut down the Decatur attack. They used a combined running, and passing game plus two pass interceptions returned for touchdowns to lead 39-7 with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. We will see next week if Decatur is better than last Friday’s outing, and in 3 weeks, we will see if Kentridge is as legit as they looked against Decatur.
