CEDAR RAPIDS – Quick and the livid was on show.
No, not a viewing of the overrated film franchise. We’re speaking the aggressive model of Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s protection expects to exhibit. Cougars Coach Brian White likes what he has been seeing.
“They’re enjoying sooner than lightning, proper now, which is nice,” White stated. “They lastly figured that out. So, the younger children have lastly matured sufficient to play actually quick.”
Class 5A No. 3 Kennedy paired a stifling protection with a potent offense for a 44-0 blowout victory over Dubuque Hempstead in a District 3 prep soccer sport Thursday at Kingston Stadium.
The Cougars protection held the Mustangs to 90 whole yards of offense of their second shutout this season. Kennedy quarteback Vincenzo Gianforte handed for 249 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“Now we have fairly excessive expectations, proper now,” White stated. “Now we have issues moving into the correct course. We’ve obtained children believing in what they’re doing.”
Kennedy (5-2, 3-0 5A-3) received its fifth straight sport. The streak coincided with the protection’s resurgence that started with a shutout at Linn-Mar.
“We obtained collectively at apply and stated we wished to get pushed tougher,” Kennedy center linebacker Calvin White stated. “We need to fill out our potential and be the sort of protection we may be. I believe it has proven on the sphere.”
The youthful White has emerged as a pacesetter for the crew. He makes a lot of the play calls in apply and competitors. His data of the sport allowed him some freedom to make performs. The all-state defender moved round, holding his spot within the center, enjoying weak-side linebacker and dashing off the sting.
Calvin White embraces the management function and talked about it’s a crew effort.
“I adore it,” Calvin White stated. “All people makes it very easy. We’re a really vocal protection. We base ourselves on that. B.J. Henry helps with being fairly vocal. He’s a captain and vocal on the market.
“It’s fairly straightforward. We’re simply enjoying on the market and having enjoyable.”
Apparently, the defensive entrance is beginning to take form. Senior defensive lineman Grant Mather returned with essentially the most expertise, enjoying three to 4 snaps final season. The entrance line has performed an enormous half within the protection’s progress.
“Now we have a full new (defensive) line this yr,” Mather stated. “We’ve actually picked up from the primary couple weeks. We’re enjoying actually good now.”
Hempstead (4-3, 1-2) struggled to maintain a lot offense. The Mustangs’ longest drive was simply eight performs and reached Kennedy territory simply as soon as. The Cougars held Hempsted to 6 first downs, forcing two turnovers.
“There’s much more enchancment from us,” stated Calvin White, who performed weak-side linebacker and was used as a rusher. “There are a number of locations I can get higher, in addition to our protection as a complete. We’re going to preserve getting higher.”
Kennedy’s offense continued its scoring barrage. The Cougars bettered it’s 43.5 clip within the earlier 4 victories.
Gianforte was an enormous a part of the outburst, passing for 249 kilos and 4 TDs. He related with Cyrus Courtney seven instances for 80 yards, together with a 23-yard TD on 4th-and-13 to open the scoring.
Gianforte hit Calvin White for an 8-yard TD go within the first and a 28-yard rating on the primary drive of the second half for a 23-0 lead. Pierce McCrary adopted with a 57-yard TD reception on the Cougars’ subsequent possession.
“We’re spoiled, and to some extent, it’s like who’re we going to deal it out to,” Brian White stated. “It’s an awesome downside to have.”
Trevor Scott and Cole Turner added TD rushes of 5 and 1 yards. Kennedy completed with 462 yards of whole offense, together with 201 on the bottom. Jacob Doyle led the best way with 72 rush yards, whereas Scott had 59.
“I felt like we might do something we wished on each offense and protection,” Mather stated. “We just about managed the sport.”
Kennedy will play Cedar Falls on the UNI-Dome subsequent week. The sport might be a preview of what awaits the Cougars in a month. It is also an opportunity to appease the sting from a highway loss to the Tigers a yr in the past.
“Now we have some incentive, particularly with these seniors, to go there and play nicely,” Brian White stated. “Plus, they’re a extremely good soccer crew that could be a playoff crew. We get to play a playoff sport with two weeks left of the season and Davenport North behind it.”
C.R. KENNEDY 44
DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD 0
AT KINGSTON STADIUM
DH CRK
First Downs 6 17
Rushes-yards 22-32 31-201
Passing yards 58 261
Comp-att-int 9-19-1 18-26-1
Complete yards 90 462
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Punts-avg. 8-32.5 1-46.0
Penalties-yards 5-34 4-35
Dubuque Hempstead 0 0 0 0 — 0
C.R. Kennedy 7 10 20 7 — 44
CRK – Cyrus Courtney 23 go from Vincenzo Gianforte (Dylan Augustine kick)
CRK – Calvin White 8 go from Gianforte (Augustine kick)
CRK – FG Augustine 36
CRK – White 28 go from Gianforte (kick failed)
CRK – Pierce McCrary 57 go from Gianforte (Augustine kick)
CRK – Trevor Scott 5 run (Augustine kick)
CRK – Cole Turner 1 run (Andrew Waterhouse kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Dubuque Hempstead: Jaden Montgomery 8-43, Justin Potts 2-7, Race Benham 3-1, Quinn Breitbach 4-0, Ben Roraff 2-(-5), Carter Krug 3-(-14). C.R. Kennedy: Jacob Doyle 11-72, Scott 6-59, Turner 8-44, White 1-15, Anthony Franklin 1-8, Group 1-4, Gianforte 3-(-1).
PASSING – Dubuque Hempstead: Krug 6-16-1-34, Roraff 3-3-0-24. C.R. Kennedy: Gianforte 16-23-1-249, Jacob Ervin 2-3-0-12.
RECEIVING – Dubuque Hempstead: Potts 2-21, Tate Woodruff 2-15, Cole Johnson 2-8, Nathan Chappell 1-5, Kayden Hefel 1-5, Devon Cook dinner 1-4. C.R. Kennedy: Courtney 7-80, White 3-41, Ben Sopousek 3-32, Nick Woods 2-24, McCrary 1-57, Grant Mather 1-22, Davarion Harris 1-5.
