San Fernando Charges Hard : Tigers Gain 294 Yards on the Ground to Crush Kennedy, 44-7

Kennedy High headed into Friday night’s game against San Fernando with an offense known as the run-and-shoot. Very early in the game, Kennedy quarterback Tony Smets understood that there would be very little of the latter and a ton of the former.

“That was the run and get hit,” said Smets, who spent most of the evening unsuccessfully trying to avoid a 9-man San Fernando rush.

Smets had managed to point out the smoking gun in this one--San Fernando’s defense sacked him 8 times for minus-34 yards as the Tigers rolled to a 44-7 win in a North Valley League game at San Fernando.

Kennedy turned the ball over 7 times, including 4 in the first half as San Fernando bashed its way to a 30-0 lead at halftime. San Fernando, which held El Camino Real to 4 yards last week, was nearly as effective when it counted, limiting Kennedy to 127 yards.

“They did a lot of great stunting and crossing with their linebackers,” said Smets, who completed only 6 of 20 passes for 73 yards and threw 3 interceptions.

Indeed, as San Fernando scored almost at will, Smets spent the rest of the night backpedaling with two or three San Fernando linebackers on his back.

“We didn’t start picking up the stunts until the second half,” said Kennedy coach Bob Francola. “And by then, they had nothing to lose. Even if we pop one it probably only goes for 40 or so yards.”

Forty would have been an outpouring.

San Fernando gained 383 yards overall and 304 on the ground and seemed to take about what it wanted all night.

The Tigers were firing on all cylinders, so much so that the wealth was spread around. Running back Maurice McFarland rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown of 35 yards; fullback Duane Crenshaw rushed for 81 yards and a 51-yard touchdown; quarterback Michael Wynn rushed for an 8-yard score and passed for 79 yards (4 of 8) with a touchdown of 12 yards.

Kennedy fell behind so fast that halfback Antiwaun Carter was never a factor. No anti-Antiwaun tactics were necessary, since the San Fernando defense stifled every phase of the Kennedy attack, including the sophomore tailback, who entered the game with 795 yards in his first 7 games. Carter finished with only 57 yards in 18 carries.

About the only mystery for San Fernando fans was how many points kicker Andrew Munoz would rack up.

San Fernando (5-3, 4-1 in league play) scored on 4 of its first 5 possessions to take its huge halftime lead. Wynn started the rout with a 12-yard scoring pass to Eddie Carrillo. After holding Kennedy on its next possession, San Fernando took a 14-0 lead on a 35-yard sweep by McFarland, who took advantage of a perfect block by receiver Sean Williams. It was a one-play drive, and it summarized Kennedy’s defensive play in the first half.

Crenshaw got into the scoring fun on San Fernando’s next drive, scoring from 51 yards on the first play of the second quarter, giving the Tigers a 20-0 lead.