It was game that didn?t live up to its billing. Stephenville (12-3), the surprise team out of District 3-4A, was picked to finish in 3rd place in what has been and remains a tough district. The Yellow Jackets upset the predictions and swept district play beating both Abilene Wylie and Brownsboro and going a 10 game win streak. {{more: continue …}}?
like a UPS driver before Christmas …??
Wildcat Larry Brooks stopped an early Stephenville drive with an interception (photo Russ Rendon)
All that came to screeching halt last Friday in the state semifinals against the hot Kennedale Wildcats. Stephenville was just unprepared for the Wildcats who were all over the field, running the ball and making stops like a UPS driver the day before Christmas.?
The Yellow Jackets hardly had time to catch their breath before finding themselves down 26-0 in the second quarter. In the third they were down 40-7 before getting another score.?
Kirven on a rampage …?
The Yellow Jackets spent the game flying after Wildcat DJ Kirven who ended with 354 yards (photo: Brian
Gossett dfwVarsity)
Stephenville couldn?t compete on this day. The Wildcats with their aggressive defensive play hitting on all cylinders, strangled the Yellow Jacket?s ground game. Stephenville, who had been averaging 189.9 yards per game, clawed out just 25 yards and 1 touchdown for the day. They did find more success in the air catching 23 of 40 passes (57.5%) for 319 yard and 3 TDs along with 1 interception. However, most of those yards came in the second half after the Cats had established control of the game.
At halftime the Wildcats had rolled up over 300 yards on their way to a total of 557 yards. On the other side of the ball, Stephenville had managed just 120 yards by halftime.?few flags …??
Kennedale defense closes down the run with #26 Jalen Myers, #7 Ector Rivera, #78 Jamal Marshall and #64
Ricardo Pena (photo: Russ Rendon)
Unlike the flag throwing, whistle blowing game of last week, where there were 18 penalties between the two teams with three players ejected and 185 yards counted off, this game was a tea party. There were just 6 penalties, shared equally, for a total of 57 yards.
?
Defensively, Jalen Myers (Jr) had 9 tackles and a team high of 5 sacks. Ector Rivera (Sr) had 4 sacks along with 7 tackles. Larry Brooks (Sr) had 8 tackles with 2 for loss and an interception. Avion Jenkins (Sr) recorded 4 tackles and two sacks. Spencer Roof (So) had 8 tackles, Ricardo Pena (Sr) 4 tackles with 3 for loss. Mayfield Hayes (Sr) had 4 tackles with 4 for loss. Devan Masson (Sr) had 4 tackles along with JD Coffey (Fr) with 3, Kade Stephenson (Jr) with 2, David Roper (Sr) with 1 and Jamal Marshall (So) with 1.
Kicker Kevin Tiero (Sr) totaled 538 yards on 9 kickoffs with 6 for touchbacks. The Cats punted once with Tiero?s 57 yard punt. Tieor was 6-8 on PAT and 0-1 on field goals.?another record setting year …??
Wildcat at 14-1 has already broken school records but looking for another (photo dfwVarsity)
The Wildcats have now won 14 games against a single loss. As the record breaking season for Kennedale continues, no other Wildcat team has won this many games in a single season nor has any Wildcat team achieved this overall record of 14-1.
