Kennedy Bid for Upset Fails With Late Pass

Kennedy High went to Aaron Lewis once too often.

The Golden Cougar wide receiver made his share of leaping grabs and one-handed catches, but even he couldn’t snare a fourth-down pass that stopped Kennedy’s last-ditch drive.

San Pedro was able to add an insurance touchdown and seal a 33-20 victory over the Golden Cougars in a City Section 4-A quarterfinal game Wednesday night at Daniels Field.

But not before Kennedy gave the top-seeded Pirates their toughest test of the season. San Pedro (12-0) will play Garfield in the semifinals a week from Friday.

San Pedro’s Cory Smith broke a 20-20 tie with seven minutes remaining on a one-yard touchdown run.

Kennedy (8-4), relying on the passing combination of Calvin Zinck and Lewis, drove to the San Pedro 40 with three minutes left.

On the fourth-down play, Zinck avoided two tackles and fired the ball toward Lewis in the midst of three Pirate defenders.

Anthony Banks and the ball arrived at the same time and Banks knocked the ball down while keeping a hand on Lewis.

“It was a good defensive play,” Lewis said.

Lewis had caught four of Zinck’s five previous passes and finished with 11 receptions for 147 yards.

“If there’s a better wide receiver in the City, I would like to see him,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said.

Zinck completed 15 of 29 for 176 yards with two interceptions.

After Kennedy turned the ball over on downs, the Pirates drove down the field and scored on a six-yard run by Jomar Butler.

The ninth-seeded Golden Cougars had chances in the first half, driving deep into Pirate territory three times, but coming away with only one touchdown--a three-yard pass from Zinck to Lewis--and two field goals by Ramiro Esqueda.

Meanwhile, San Pedro was struggling with penalties after scoring on its second drive, an 11-yard run by Holman Wiggins. The Pirates finished with 140 yards on 12 penalties.

Kennedy led, 13-7, at halftime.

“We should have had at least 17 by halftime,” Kennedy’s Waking Bailey said.