Kennedy Is Flat but Still Beats Valencia

Kennedy’s Tom Haas had just thrown four touchdown passes and his team had just scored a 35-21 nonleague victory over previously unbeaten Valencia. And yet, the players were quiet.

The Fighting Irish, who relish the reputation of hitting opponents hard and often on defense, didn’t rock many helmets Thursday at Western High.

It was so unlike their inspired performance a week earlier against La Puente Bishop Amat, last year’s Southern Section Division I champion, in a 35-28 loss.

Haas, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 155 yards and all those touchdowns, said: “I’m not real happy with the win. We came out flat when we wanted to make a statement. We played well on offense, but we didn’t hit on defense. [Throwing] the four touchdowns feels good, but I’d rather have a defensive game where we snap the [heck] out of them.”

The only bone-jarring crunch came on Valencia’s final drive when Nick Gamboa laid out Greg Sams.

Other than that, well . . . Valencia ran for 272 yards and, if not for two plays--quarterback Eric Young’s fumble at the seven-yard line and a Kennedy interception in the fourth quarter that Lester Scott returned 29 yards to the two-yard line--the game might have been different. Still, Valencia never got closer than seven points.

“Last week was such an emotional high, the early [14-0] lead was the worst thing that could happen to us,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. “The shame of it is that we can really hit, but we hit like girls. This is a worse feeling than last week.”

The Irish (3-1) are ranked sixth in the Southern Section Division V rankings, Valencia (3-1) is eighth.

Valencia’s offense actually outgained Kennedy’s, 343-282, as Julian Gill rushed 17 times for 113 yards, but Kennedy was far more effective. Haas threw touchdown passes to Garrett Sabol (13, 28 yards), Ryan Roberson (13 yards) and J.D. Jones (29 yards). Sabol (four catches, 85 yards) rushed 12 times for 49 yards, including a three-yard touchdown run to give Kennedy a 35-14 lead with 1 minute 40 seconds left.