Kennedy Takes a Stand, Beats Savanna

On an opening night filled with big scoring plays, it was a running back turned defender who led a goal-line stand that was the turning point in Kennedy’s 30-15 nonleague victory over Savanna at Western High.

With Kennedy clinging to an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, senior Jack Tucker ripped the football from Cameron King just before the Savanna running back crossed the goal line.

That preventing a score and helped clinch the victory for the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish.

Minutes later Tucker gained 15 yards in a five-play Kennedy drive that was capped by a 62-yard run by senior Chuck Adame that put the game away.

Earlier in the game Adame returned a kickoff 86 yards for a score.

Tucker, who rushed for 95 yards in 12 carries, finished the game with an interception at the Kennedy 23 to stop a last-gasp Savanna drive.

“You can’t fumble on the one-inch line and beat a good football team like Kennedy,” Savanna Coach Fred DiPalma said.

Kennedy, with quarterback Tom Haas passing for 128 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion, led in total yardage 358 to 269.

But the Irish had three turnovers, as did Savanna. Rebel quarterback Ryan Poland passed for 100 yards, throwing nine of his 11 completions to wide receiver Chris Bird.

“They took it to us in the first half, but I thought we were a little big for them and we wore them down in the second half,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said.

Kennedy opened the game with an impressive 15-play scoring march, capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Haas to J.D. Jones.

But Savanna running back Leon Kellum answered with 92-yard touchdown run on the kickoff.

Things then slowed down a bit until late in the first half.

Savanna took its first lead, 12-7, when Jason Brown capped a 12-play, 68-yard drive with a two-yard scoring run.

The Rebels blew the two-point conversion. Their fans barely had enough time to sit down when Adame took the kickoff and went 86 yards for a touchdown.

Garrett Sabol scored on the two-point conversion and Kennedy led, 15-12, with 22 seconds left in the half.

But Savanna wasn’t through. Poland drove the Rebels down to the 23-yard line and stopped the clock with four seconds left, setting up Jason Brown, who knocked in a 39-yard field goal as first half ended.