Carter Gains 186 Yards as Kennedy Rolls, 40-6

Don’t blame Kennedy High if the Golden Cougars seemed a little out of sync most of Wednesday night.

Sure, Kennedy may have struggled in the first half of its 40-6 win over Crenshaw in a City Section 4-A Division first-round playoff game.

But the scene at Kennedy High just didn’t seem right to the Golden Cougars, who drew a Crenshaw team in the first round that carried a 2-7 record.

And Kennedy’s 34-0 win over Crenshaw earlier this season didn’t help matters much. Neither did a game played in the middle of the week, the day before Thanksgiving, in a biting wind.

“The atmosphere just didn’t seem right out here,” said Kennedy running back Ontiwaun Carter, who somehow managed to keep his interest for three quarters and finished with a game-high 186 yards in 17 carries and scored three touchdowns.

“It was a Wednesday night, and we’d already beaten them pretty bad earlier this year,” he said. “I guess everyone was thinking about Banning.”

For the sake of entertainment, bring on the Pilots. Kennedy (7-4) will play Banning at Gardena High in a second-round game Nov. 30.

“We were a little sluggish, but we still have to beat teams like Crenshaw,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said.

Kennedy scored on its first drive when quarterback Mike McMullen hit Keith West from two yards to give Kennedy a 6-0 lead with 5:32 left in the first quarter.

McMullen, who completed nine of 19 passes for 115 yards, completed five of six on the drive for 52 yards. After an interception on the Golden Cougars’ next drive, Kennedy bounced back with a seven-yard touchdown run from Carter. West’s conversion kick extended Kennedy’s lead to 13-0.

Crenshaw punted five times for an average of 20.6 yards, including punts of 18 and 13 yards.

Crenshaw quarterback Whitney Jones, the sixth Cougar to line up behind center this season, failed to complete his first 15 passes and finished five of 26 for 78 yards.

Kennedy secured the victory with touchdown runs of one and 62 yards from Carter. Kennedy led, 26-6, in the third quarter.

Kennedy added a three-yard run by Eli Raphael and Billy Sanders’ school-record 96-yard interception return, which gave Kennedy a 40-6 lead with 8:04 left.