Kentwood holds on to beat Tahoma...

French Field, September 16th, 2011.

While it may not have been the prettiest win in the history of Kentwood football, I dont think you will hear many complaints out of Covington after last weeks loss to Jefferson. The Conquerors were not perfect, especially in the second half, but didn't have to be in their 24-17 win over the Tahoma Bears on Thursday night at French Field.

The game that was a story of two halves would begin with Kentwood (2-1) recieving the games first possession. After moving the ball to about midfield they would give up two sacks and be forced the punt. Tahoma (1-2) wouldn't be able gain a first down though as Kentwood would come up with the first of many defensive stops, this one on fourth and one. The Conks would get the ball on the Tahoma 49 yardline and five plays later Senior, Matt Hubbard would keep the ball on a read play and rush 30 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

The Bears would get the ball back and after getting a first down they looked as though they were going to be setting up for another fourth down when the referees would call a Kentwood defender for a personal foul on a hit to the head of the Tahoma reciever. Personally I thought the hit was clean, but I am all for erroring on the side of caution. It wouldn't matter though as four plays later the Bears would turn the ball over on another fourth down attempt.

The Conks would get a great pass and catch from Dane Manio to Jonathan Ohashi for 17 yards down to the Tahoma 16. On third and one from the seven Hubbard would score again but it would be brought back on a holding call. The Conks would settle for a 34 yard Field Goal from Junior, Mitchell Cox.

Tahoma again would get the ball and not be able to move, this time going three and out. The first quarter would end with a Tahoma punt returned by Conks Senior, Jesse Lovato eight yards to his own 35.

Kentwood's first drive of the second quarter would go 65 yards on just five plays, capped off by a 44 yard run by Chance Kalua-Fuimaono. This touchdown would put Kentwood ahead 17-0 as the Conquerors were seemingly in cruise control.

With just over a minute to play Tahoma would get the ball at midfield after a Kentwood punt. The Bears would march 6 plays, all through the air, down to the Kentwood one yardline where with four seconds to play before the half, the Kentwood defense would stop running back Reau Riggs for no gain. Even though they couldn't get in the endzone, you could see the Bears beginning to build some momentum.

The third quarter for Tahoma was a momentum builder for although they would not get on the scoreboard. The Bears defense would keep them in the game as Kentwood would have two possessions in the third quarter, both three and outs.

The first play of the fourth quarter would finally get Tahoma on the board when Kicker, David Stoecker would hit from 26 yards out.

Kentwood would once again go three and out giving the Bears the ball on their own 43 following the punt. On second down Bears Quarterback, Shane Nelson would find DeShon Williams for a 23 yard gain, moving the ball into Kentwood territory. After four straight running plays, Nelson would find Senior, Jason Smith on a 19 yard fade for the Tahoma touchdown. That score would bring the Bears within seven points with 7:43 to play. The momemtum was all in favor of the Bears.

Kentwood would start the drive on their own 30 and after a penalty, runs of four and one, it was quickly third and ten. This time the Conks would convert when Dane Manio hit Jarrett Retz with a 16 yard pass down the sideline. The Tahoma Defense would stay tough though and force another third and ten. This time the Conks would give the ball to Matt Hubbard who would rumble for 11 yards and another first down. Kentwood would be continue to hand the ball off and three plays later Kalua-Fuimaono would sprint in untouched from 22 yards out widening the lead to 24-10 with just under four minutes to play.

Starting on their own 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds, the Bears would begin to attack through the air. The drive would go 65 yards in 12 plays finishing when Shane Nelson found DeShon William who would dive into the endzone.

That touchdown would bring the score to 24-17 with 1:33 to play, but Kentwood would recover the onside kick. Kentwood would hand the ball to Kalua-Fuimaono twice to get a first down before lining up in the victory formation and taking a knee.

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Random Notes:

- Kentwood Junior, Mitchell Cox might be the best OL/ILB that is a Kicker in the state. The Conks do not have a kicker listed on the roster and unless I am wrong, Cox does the kicking duties.

- Kentwood might have the best gameday program in the state. They have a section with profiles of the Senior players. I would like to share a few of my favorites... Matt Hubbard, "Plans After HS: 4 year college, travel the world and marry Kim Kardashian."... Quincey Davidson who is 6'1" and 315 lbs, "You might not know... I like long walks that do not involve running with 12 cupcakes on the beach."... Devin Taylor, "You might not know... From birth, I was unable to open my eyes until I was 5 years old. I had surgery to be able to see. Then, in 3rd grade I won a vision contest."... I really don't know if any of this is true, but I got a good laugh.

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Up Next:

Next week the Kentwood Conquerors will play their only non-league game of the season at home vs the Puyallup Vikings (1-1).

Tahoma is home next week against the Auburn Trojans. This game is huge for the Bears as the following week they go back to French Field to play Kentlake. They might not be able to afford a loss next week.

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Unfortunately I will not be attending a game friday or Saturday night. If you are at a game, please tweet me the score @HSFootballWA.