Kennedy Ties for 4-A Title With Shutout

Imagine Carl Lewis in the Olympic 100-meter dash. Imagine him falling on his face coming out of the blocks. Imagine him getting up and being hit by a wayward discus 10 strides later. Imagine both of his shoes falling off a moment later. Imagine him recovering to win the race.

Now consider Kennedy High.

The Golden Cougars lost three of their first four games this year, and spent the rest of the season repenting. On Friday night, the Golden Cougars finished off a string of five straight victories by finishing off San Fernando, 28-0, at San Fernando.

The win left Kennedy (5-3-1, 3-0-1) tied with Granada Hills for the Valley 4-A League title. The Tigers, on the other hand, finished 2-6, 1-3. They still can make the playoffs.

“It’s a testament to our kids that they didn’t cave in from that 1-3 start,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said.

League standings aside, the Kennedy-San Fernando game is a natural rivalry: Many of the players grew up in the same neighborhoods.

The game, although not close in score, was tough.

The San Fernando defense, which in recent weeks has roughed up top Valley running backs in Cleveland’s Albert Fann and Granada Hills’ Khalid Ali, gave similar treatment to Cougar star Edwin Jones.

Jones, who last week gained 280 yards against Cleveland was held to just 69 yards on 20 carries. Running mate Jerome Hill carried nine times for 86 yards.

Kennedy quarterback Jeff Newman took up the offensive slack for his team, completing 5 of 5 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

The Golden Cougars were preseason favorites to win the league and the defense played up to expectations from the beginning. The offense, however, did not get rolling until recently. Kennedy has outscored its opponents the past two weeks, 63-0.

The Tigers, meanwhile, played decent defense--but far too much of it. The offense, which has been giving the ball away on turnovers all season long, had its problems once again.

Against Kennedy, the Tigers abandonned their option offense for the passing game. Unfortunately, starting quarterback Joe Mauldin had an awful night, completing just 3 of 12 passes for 14 yards with four interceptions.

San Fernando’s rushing game was similarly shut down. The Tigers netted minus-29 yards on the ground.

Kennedy scored first, on a four-play, 36-yard first-quarter drive that was highlighted by the passing of Newman. On the Golden Cougars’ next possession, Hill broke up the middle for a 63-yard scoring run.

But that was all Kennedy could manage in the first half. The Tiger defense did all it could to help out the offense, recovering a fumbled pitch at the Kennedy 18-yard line. But San Fernando came away empty handed and the score at half was 14-0.

Kennedy scored in both the third and fourth quarters to finish off the game.

On the opening drive of the second half, Newman finished off a seven-play, 80-yard drive by throwing his second touchdown pass to Dion Lambert. In the fourth quarter, Zeus Woody ran 11 yards for the Cougars’ final touchdown.

Wide receiver Lambert caught three passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Hill caught two passes for 40 yards and a key first down in the second quarter which led to a Kennedy score.

There were very few, if any, bright spots on offense for the Tigers. Running back Charles Thomas ended up with only three yards on six carries. Mauldin was sacked four times for a minus-37 yards.

Kennedy’s defense was led by Stacy Ramsey, who had three interceptions.

Tensions ran high in this game before the first snap from center. The B teams from each school got into a fight at the end of their preliminary game.

Once the varsity action started, there were numerous outbursts, one threatening to be a bench-clearing brawl. Coaches ran onto the field to herd their players back to the bench.

Tempers cooled in the second half as did the game action.

Both teams were plagued by penalties. Kennedy was flagged eight times for 60 yards and San Fernando was penalized six times for 55 yards.