KENDRICK — The Kendrick football team showed little to no signs of rust as it began its Idaho Class 1A Division II title defense on Friday at home against nonconference opponent Council.
The Tigers scored touchdowns on all nine offensive possessions as they trounced the Lumberjacks 66-14.
“I thought we played well,” Kendrick coach Zane Hobart said. “There were still some of those first-game mistakes on both sides of the ball for us. But as a whole, I thought we played well.”
Here’s how it went down:
An explosive start
Kendrick started the game the only way it knew how: by going on a one-play, 58-yard touchdown drive that took 12 seconds off the clock.
Senior quarterback Ty Koepp had all day to locate speedy receiver Hunter Taylor, who was behind his defender almost immediately after the snap.
“I burned my corner, and it was a wide-open touchdown,” Taylor said. “I was stoked before the game, so it was an amazing feeling to score on the first play of the game.”
The Tigers maintained their energy on defense, forcing a Council turnover within the first two plays. Lumberjacks’ sophomore quarterback Owen Hatfield mishandled the snap, and Wyatt Fitzmorris was able to recover.
This was the first of two straight botched snaps from Council, which gave Kendrick a short field and two rushing scores from Taylor and Sawyer Hewett.
“(Hunter) is one of those guys that if he touches the ball, he can score,” Hobart said. He has that breakaway speed, and he had a big game tonight.”
Taylor and Hewett didn’t slow down their efforts, as Taylor finished with 115 yards receiving off three receptions and Hewett added 73 yards on the ground.
Hewett also made a huge play as a receiver, reeling in a 35-yard pass with one hand. This led to a Koepp-to-Taylor connection prior to halftime to put the Tigers in front 52-14.
Koepp finished 7-for-8 passing for 210 yards and four scores.
“It’s really nice playing with Ty,” Taylor said. “He gets you the ball quick, and he’s accurate and on time.”
Never scared
The Lumberjacks (0-1) had a distinct size advantage up front, having several kids who weighed north of 200 pounds. Despite this, the Tigers held their own at the point of attack, winning the battle at the line of scrimmage.
Council ran the ball 39 times behind its stout offensive line and finished with 105 yards (2.69 ypc). Kendrick tallied 128 yards rushing on 11 carries (12.54 ypc)
“I thought we played really physically and won the line of scrimmage,” Hobart said. “I was happy with the way our D-line played today.”
Contrasting styles
Council was never in the game at any point on Friday, but it may have unlocked some potential ways to take down the 8-man football juggernaut.
The Lumberjacks ran 65 plays compared to the Tigers 27. They were able to sustain long drives and convert on third down, which kept Kendrick’s offense off the field.
Council’s longest drive of the game was a 13-play scoring drive in the second quarter that was capped off by a Hatfield rushing touchdown.
The Lumberjacks were able to pound the rock during this drive, but more importantly, they were able to get production out of their triple option.
Kendrick at times fell victim to this look by either over pursuing or not being in the right position.
“We just have to be more disciplined,” Hobart said. “This is a great time to learn some discipline. We’ll touch on it after this game, and we have to stop that triple option. We had some mental blunders, and they need to fix that.”
Council 0 14 0 0—14
Kendrick 36 16 8 6—66
FIRST QUARTER
Kendrick — Hunter Taylor 58 pass from Ty Koepp (pass failed)
Kendrick — Taylor 12 run (Nathan Tweit pass from Koepp)
Kendrick — Sawyer Hewett 23 run (Hewett pass from Koepp)
Kendrick — Wyatt Fitzmorris 15 run (Koepp run)
Kendrick — Tweit 38 pass from Koepp (pass failed)
SECOND QUARTER
Council — Owen Hatfield 2 run
Kendrick — Taylor 42 pass from Koepp (Fitzmorris run)
Council — Hatfield 2 run (Mason Roberts run)
Kendrick — Taylor 15 pass from Koepp (Fitzmorris run)
THIRD QUARTER
Kendrick — Hewett 3 run (Hewett run)
FOURTH QUARTER
Kendrick — Tanner Clemenhagen 2 run (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATSTICS
RUSHING — Council: Dahlton Bingham 17-65, Zielinski 11-45, Hatfield 7-31, Roberts 7-34, Decker McClin 2-6. Kendrick: Hewett 6-73, Fitzmorris 2-53, Koepp 3-12 Clemenhagen 1-2, Tweit 1-18, Xavier Carpenter 3-13.
PASSING — Council: Hatfield 6-11-0—68 Garrison Zielinski 1-1-0—15. Kendrick: Koepp 7-8-0—210.
RECEIVING — Council: Bingham 4-4-67, Devin Townsend 3-16. Kendrick: Taylor 3-115, Tweit 1-38, Fitzmorris 1-10, Hewett 2-43
