Kilpatrick Cashes In Fumbles to Turn Back Beaumont, 23-0

Kilpatrick High didn’t fumble the opportunity to get to the championship game. Instead, the Mustangs forced it.

Capitalizing on three fumble recoveries, Kilpatrick scored 15 points in the final 1:18 of the second quarter and went on to defeat Beaumont, 23-0, in a Southern Section Division XII semifinal Friday night at Newbury Park High.

Rashad Taplin recovered the first fumble, setting up Kilpatrick (8-5) on its 38-yard line. Eleven plays later, Kevin White scored on a three-yard run.

Freddie Lassiter recovered the next Beaumont fumble at the Cougar 15. Facing third and 10, halfback Albert Youngblood threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to White with 44 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give Kilpatrick a 12-0 lead.

On the kickoff, Dominic Reed forced and recovered Beaumont’s third fumble, and with one second remaining Ryan Rose kicked a 39-yard field goal.

Youngblood’s six-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the only scoring in the second half. He finished with 55 yards rushing in 19 carries, and he scored his 14th two-point conversion on a run.

White rushed for 109 yards in 19 carries. In three playoff games, White has rushed for 585 yards and scored seven touchdowns.

The Mustangs forced five turnovers, recorded four sacks and held Beaumont (6-7) to 156 total yards. Twice in the second half, Kilpatrick stopped the Cougars at the one-yard line to preserve the shutout.

“The defense really stepped up tonight,” Coach Sid Ware of Kilpatrick said. “They didn’t adjust to our linebacker blitzes tonight.”

The Mustangs will play the winner of tonight’s semifinal between Cathedral and top-seeded Paraclete for the division title next week.

Kilpatrick has won seven of its last eight games, its loss coming against Paraclete.

“We’re overjoyed about playing in the championship game,” Ware said. “We’d love to play Paraclete again, but Cathedral is a very tough team also.”