Quick Start by Cypress Puts Away Kennedy, 21-13

Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson turned to the scoreboard, which displayed Cypress’ 21-13 victory over Olson’s team, and put the previous two hours into perspective.

“It’s a shame we scored two TDs at the end,” Olson said. “People are going to look at the newspaper and think this was a close game.”

It wasn’t. Two touchdowns in the final three minutes created the illusion of competition, but there was nothing competitive about Cypress’ victory.

Cypress improved to 8-1 overall, 3-1 in the Empire League. Kennedy dropped to 7-2, 3-1. If Kennedy beats Loara next week--and that’s unlikely if the Fighting Irish turn in a repeat performance--it could create a three-way tie for first place.

“People were saying they weren’t as good as their record, and tonight they proved they were better than people thought and maybe we weren’t as good as people thought,” Olson said. “I thought we would come out with a little more fire.”

Instead, Cypress brought the heat. Darren Shorter’s two first-half touchdown runs, of six and four yards, accounted for more offense than Kennedy gained in the entire first half--minus-seven yards. Shorter, who finished with 174 yards in 41 carries, had 122 yards by halftime.

Cypress’ first-half scoring drives were 23 and 38 yards. The first came when Josh Leazenby stripped quarterback Geoff Etherson and Jacob Kartchner recovered, the second on Kerry Lathon’s 17-yard punt return.

Cypress added a touchdown in the third quarter, after Jelani Gamba’s interception and 21-yard return. Justin Rice passed 25 yards to Darnell Dodson, capping a 51-yard drive, and Chris Adornetto’s point-after gave Cypress a 21-0 lead.

“Everybody was psyched up,” said Leazenby, who is listed as a 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior defensive lineman. “We didn’t have the penalties we usually have, we played with confidence, and we got it done.”

Kennedy netted 220 yards in offense, but 96 came on a school-record touchdown pass from Geoff Etherson to Rhema McKnight, and 32 yards came in the final minute, the last 25 on a touchdown pass to McKnight. Those were the only receptions for McKnight, who had 40 going into the game.

Cypress’ Rice completed 11 of 18 passes for 97 yards. Etherson completed 12 of 26 for 207 yards, and was intercepted twice.