HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Kearny Caps Celebration With Win

With more than 3,000 fans celebrating the school’s 50-year anniversary, Kearny High’s football team had a play designed to put its crowd in a frenzy on its first offensive play Saturday.

The Komets, playing host to Patrick Henry at Mesa College, were planning to throw a play-action bomb, score early, put the game away and party.

But when Kearny (3-0), which eventually beat the Patriots, 27-14, opened their first drive at their own two-yard line, they couldn’t afford to gamble.

It wasn’t until the opening kickoff of the third quarter--after Kearny’s crowd had to entertain itself through a scoreless first half--that the Komets could provide that “special” something.

James Curtis took the kick at his own 12, headed toward the east sideline, made a spin move and changed direction at the 30 and left 21 special teams players in his wake. The 88-yard return was Curtis’ second for a score this season (he had a 99-yarder last week), but that was just the beginning. Curtis treated the alumni twice more--scoring on runs of 12 and three yards--to ice the game in the fourth quarter.

Coach Willie Matson, who was a standout player for the Komets in 1972, afterward said: “James is a little bit special.”

Curtis, a 6-foot-1 junior, rushed for 92 yards on 11 carries and had more than 200 all-purpose yards (214) for the third consecutive game. His three touchdowns give him nine for the season, and it appears that Kearny has found a big-play man to replace Darnay Scott.

“He’s a major-league, blue-chip running back,” Kearny offensive coordinator Steve Miner said. “And he’s always working hard to get better every game.”

But it was Kearny’s defense, led by Rashad Wright, Mike Harper and Billy Baker, that kept the Komets in what was otherwise a close game. Kearny put eight men on the line against the Patriots’ wing-T offense, slowed their running attack and forced quarterback Chris Yerke (4 for 13, 131 yards) to pass to his running backs.

Patrick Henry (1-1-1) had a futile second quarter and a disastrous fourth quarter. The Patriots had a 60-yard scoring pass from Yerke to Nathan Nelson (10-57 rushing, 4-77 receiving) nullified by a clipping penalty. Harper recovered a fumble at midfield and Wright sacked Yerke on fourth down at the Kearny 29 to kill two more drives.

After Yerke scored on a one-yard sneak, capping a 95-yard drive to make it 7-6, Kearny, in the third quarter, Patrick Henry turned the ball over on its next three possessions Those led to two Komet scores against a tired Patriot defense.

Nelson, a 5-8 sparkplug, kept Patrick Henry on the move and caught a six-yard pass from Justin Gittleman for the Patriots’ second score. But afterward, all he could think about was his nullified touchdown and a pass that he accidently tipped into the hands of a defender.

“I was so mad, I was already past that guy that was clipped,” he said. “We made too many mistakes. This was most definitely a game we could have won.”