Kendrick Tigers win rematch over Knights to advance to state championship

Less than two minutes since scoring his first touchdown, Kendrick junior receiver Ralli Roetcisoender took the screen pass from sophomore quarterback Maddox Kirkland and barreled through a crusade of Logos Knights, stiff-arming the final defender standing between him and the promised land to put the Tigers up by two scores.

The Kendrick Tigers used more than 200 passing yards and seven touchdowns to beat Logos 52-26 in the semifinals of the Idaho Class 2A state tournament Friday at Bengal Field in Lewiston.

With the victory, the Tigers — winners of the last three state championships at the 1A DII level — clinched a trip to the 2A state championship versus Butte County next weekend at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow in their first year playing at the higher level.

“To get to this moment, to get to the title game, to get the win against a team that already beat you and a league opponent feels great,” Kendrick coach Zane Hobart said. “The kids played really well.”

The rematch

The Tigers, accustomed to dominant victories, faced their finest test yet in the Logos Knights.

A test they failed over a month ago when Logos shut down the Tigers’ offense and snapped their 31-game winning streak of nearly three years with a 30-18 regular-season win on Oct. 11 in Kendrick.

In a rematch of Whitepine League titans, the Tigers got their revenge.

Hobart said Kendrick’s mindset entering the rematch was less a desire to get revenge and more a determination to play up to the Tigers’ own standards.

Kendrick senior Sawyer Hewett agreed that the game was more about Kendrick playing its best, but did admit that losing the 31-game winning streak hurt.

“Obviously we wanted a little bit of revenge, you know, taking that winning streak away from us hurt pretty bad,” Hewett said. “I think we all handled it very well and you know there’s no hard feeling between both these teams.”

Roetcisoender said losing to Logos the first time made Kendrick play harder on Friday.

Hewett said the Tigers were healthier than the last time they faced Logos, which allowed Kendrick to establish a little bit more of a run game.

Kirkland said that the return of Kendrick’s starting center Carter Hogan boosted the Tigers’ offense.

“The first time we played it I feel that we just didn’t want to lose compared to going out there and trying our hardest,” Roetcisoender said.

Hobart said Kendrick did not play well the last time they faced Logos but made several schematic changes to get the ball to Hewett, Roetcisoender and other playmakers in space.

Tigers, Knights trade touchdowns, turnovers

Kendrick struck first on a drive in which Kirkland scrambled for a fourth down and then found Hewett on a 9-yard pass.

Logos quarterback Seamus Wilson found Ryan Daniels for an 11-yard score to even the game at 6-6 before Hewett returned the Logos kickoff for a score.

The Knights tied the game again, as they continued to rely on running back Baxter Covington, who racked up 143 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Later in the second quarter, Kirkland sent the ball sailing 45 yards to Roetcisoender for the pair’s first touchdown of the night.

Then, Logos muffed the kickoff return, the Tigers recovered and Kirkland connected with Roetcisoender again for a touchdown to raise Kendrick’s lead to 30-14.

The Knights and Tigers traded touchdowns again to close the half with Kendrick leading 38-20.

The Tigers led the Knights 46-20 in the final minute of the third quarter and held the ball with a chance to completely shut the door when Kirkland dropped the ball and a Logos Knight leapt on it.

Then, Wilson let a pass fly down the right sideline as he tried to use every second to the Knights’ advantage.

The Tigers led the Knights 46-20 in the final minute of the third quarter and held the ball with a chance to completely shut the door when Kirkland dropped the ball and a Logos Knight leapt on it.

Logos quarterback Wilson took off for 15 yards on the ground to bring a close to the third quarter. After the brief quarter break, Wilson let a pass fly down the right sideline as he tried to use every second to the Knights’ advantage.

As the spiral wobbled through the air, Roetcisoender outleapt the Logos receiver and came down with the ball.

Minutes after his quarterback had lost the ball, Roetcisoender stepped up for him and his team.

“Ralli stepped up and got us the ball back,” Kirkland said.

Sawyer Hewett strikes again

Hewett has contributed to all three of Kendrick’s state titles as a running back and prolific kick returner. The Kendrick senior and University of Idaho football commit flashed his speed and awareness when he returned another Logos kickoff for a touchdown to break a first-quarter 6-6 tie before it could exist for more than a minute.

Hewett returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his previous meeting with Logos and capitalized on the Knights’ kicking the ball to him in the middle of the field once again.

“I’ve learned over the years that whenever you get the ball off of a kickoff, don’t dilly dally in the backfield. You look, you see a hole and you hit it as fast as you possibly can,” Hewett said. “And that’s what I always try to do and it happened to work twice against these guys.”

Logos earns third place

The Logos Knights walked off the field with a lot of learns, but a lot to be proud about, Logos coach Nick Holloway said.

Holloway credited his assistant coaches for putting in the extra hours and building a program in a matter of four years that is cable of multiple playoff runs.

Although the Knights are losing their entire offensive line, much of their wide receiver corps and their starting quarterback, there are lots of kids waiting in the wings ready to take Logos to the next level, Holloway said.

“It’s not supposed to come easy. That’s why we’re doing this,” Holloway said. “We want our boys to do hard things. Want them to do really difficult things. Because that’s eventually what makes you great.”

Kendrick advances to championship

The Tigers earned their 10th win of the season and 35th out of their last 36 games.

“We have a chance to make history,” Roetcisoender said.

The Tigers will face Butte County, last year’s 1A DI state champion, next week at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

The chance to win not only a fourth straight state title, but to win one in a higher classification is a goal that the Tigers crave.

“It’s for them,” Hobart said. “It’s the community, the kids, the players, the current players, the upcoming players, the past players — it’s all about them, man. It would mean a lot.”

Players like Hewett, who have contributed to all three championships, are just as hungry as they were for the first one.

“When it’s all said and done, I got to play my whole high school career with my brothers and I’d do anything for this game,” Hewett said. “It’s gonna be hard when it ends obviously but I hope that we can get that one more ring on our fingers.”

Kendrick 14 24 8 6 — 52

Logos 6 14 0 6 — 26

FIRST QUARTER

Kendrick — Sawyer Hewett 9 pass from Maddox Kirkland (run failed)

Logos — Ryan Daniels 11 pass from Seamus Wilson (run failed)

Kendrick — Hewett kickoff return (Hewett pass from Kirkland)

SECOND QUARTER

Logos — Baxter Covington 1 run (Covington run)

Kendrick — Ralli Roetcisoender 45 pass from Kirkland (Hewett run)

Kendrick — Roetcisoender 13 pass from Kirkland (Kirkland run)

Logos — Covington 9 run (run failed)

Kendrick — Xavier Carpenter 14 pass from Kirkland (Hewett pass from Kirkland)

THIRD QUARTER

Kendrick — Kirkland 1 run (Carpenter run)

FOURTH QUARTER

Logos — Daniels 49 pass from Wilson (run failed)

Kendrick — Hewett 20 run (pass failed)

Passing — Logos: Seamus Wilson 16-27-2-224 Kendrick: Maddox Kirkland 12-15-201.

Rushing — Baxter Covington 16-143, Logos: Wilson 9-40; Kendrick: Sawyer Hewett 11-50, Xavier Carpenter 6-46, Kirkland 5-34.

Receiving — Logos: Ryan Daniels 6-159; Covington 3-9, Lucis Comis 4-35, Dominic Porras 2-11, Ben Carlson 2-9, Kendrick: Sawyer Hewett 6-70, Cade Silflow 2-45, Xavier Carpenter 1-7 Ralli Roetcisoender 3-79.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.