San Fernando Makes Its Point to Kennedy

It’s like a fill-in-the-blank sentence this season. “Kennedy High lost a heartbreaker, being edged in the fourth quarter by . . .”

Friday night, its tormentor was San Fernando, which came from behind to nip the Golden Cougars, 21-20, in a Northwest Valley Conference game.

Kennedy has lost three games this season--by one, one and two points.

“We’ve got a lot of broken-hearted kids,” Coach Bob Francola said.

Meanwhile, San Fernando (3-2, 2-0 in conference play) had a lot of ecstatic ones, none more so than Keijuan Douglas.

Douglas, a 5-foot-8 option quarterback who led the Tigers back from a 20-7 third-quarter deficit, threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Marcus Jones with just under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

“I knew I could do it,” said Douglas, a junior. “I told Coach (Sean) Blunt, ‘I’m going to keep my head in the game, and we’ll take it.’ And we took it.”

Blunt made a statement of his own to Douglas.

“You know what I told him?” Blunt asked. “ ‘Good ballplayers make big plays. Show me how good you are.’ He showed me tonight.”

Douglas rushed for 58 yards in 14 carries and threw two touchdown passes to Jones.

Lavelle Thompson rushed for 111 yards in 12 carries, including a 36-yard touchdown in the third quarter to trim Kennedy’s lead to 20-14.

Thompson intercepted a pass by Kennedy quarterback Dan McMullen, the first of three interceptions McMullen threw in the second half.

After Kennedy (2-3, 0-2) forced San Fernando to punt, linebacker Chris Mares intercepted a McMullen pass on the Kennedy 30-yard line. Douglas’ decisive 10-yard pass to Jones came five plays later.

McMullen completed 17 of 32 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Kennedy’s Antwane Smith had 15 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.