Kennedy Sparkles on Defense

Question: What do Jose Canseco and the Cleveland High football team have in common?

Answer: Neither could deliver on offense when it counted.

Cleveland, coming off an upset of San Fernando a week ago, was shut down Friday night by Kennedy, dropping a 14-3 Northwest Valley Conference decision to the Golden Cougars at Cleveland.

The Cavaliers (3-3, 2-2), trailing, 7-3, at halftime, were held to 63 yards in the second half until their final drive and succumbed to the running of sophomore Antiwaun Carter and the passing of Tony Smets.

“We played some defense tonight for the first time,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said. “We made it a mission tonight.”

The Golden Cougars (5-2, 3-1) held Cleveland to 242 yards--58 under Kennedy’s defensive average.

On offense, Carter was consistent, rushing for 120 yards in 24 carries and scoring on a 37-yard pass play from Smets.

Smets completed 7 of 12 passes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second coming on a 38-yard pass to Billy Parra with 9:22 left in the third period that accounted for the only scoring in the second half. Kennedy finished with 269 yards.

Cleveland got 98 yards in 12 carries from running back Sean Burwell, and quarterback Lee Gatewood completed 13 of 25 for 103 yards.

Gatewood, however, called an audible on fourth and 13 from the Kennedy 40 midway through the fourth period but gained only 10 yards on a sneak, turning the ball over with 8:10 to play.

“Sometimes we play like King Kong and sometimes we play like Fay Wray. Tonight was a Fay Wray night,” Cleveland Coach Steve Landress said.

Kennedy scored on its first possession when Carter took a swing pass from Smets and raced 37 yards, sidestepping Burwell at the 5. Jason Rosen added the kick to give the Golden Cougars a 7-0 lead with 7:06 left in the first period.

The Cavaliers marched to the Kennedy 3 late in the second period, but a procedure penalty pushed them back to the 8, and they eventually settled for Frank Diana’s 23-yard field goal.