Clarksville, TN – Going into its regular-season District 10-AAA finale, November 1st, the Kenwood High School football team knew it had to win to have any chance at getting into the post-season playoffs or its season would be over.
Well they did their part, as the Knights kept their hopes for a playoff berth alive with a 44-21 victory over the Northeast High School Eagles.
Early on, the night didn’t start off well for Kenwood (5-5, 4-3 District 10-AAA), as its trailed Northeast 13-6 after the first quarter – giving up touchdowns to the Eagles on their first two drive of the night.But things would change for the Knights right before the end of the first quarter when Northeast (5-5, 4-3 District 10-AAA) starting quarterback Montrell Pardue was injured playing defense and was helped off the field and never returned to the game.
Without Pardue on the field the Eagles offense would sputter, while the Knights would take control of the game by scoring 38 straight points to take a commanding 31-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The first of five straight scores came on its first drive of the second quarter, a 10-play, 52-yrd drive, with Knight quarterback Malcom Perry capping off the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run – plus the two-point conversion run – to put Kenwood up for good, 14-13 with 4:38 left in the first half.
The Knights would add a score right before intermission with Perry hooking up with Angel Hall for a 57-yard touchdown pass play with 34.8 second left in the second quarter to go up nine, 22-13 at halftime.
Perry would finish the night with 202 yards of total offense, 98 coming on the ground on 14 carries, while the other 104 came through the air on 3-of-6 passing.
After intermission, Northeast would pull most of its starters on both side of the ball – knowing it already had a playoff spot locked up – allowing Kenwood to continue to add to its lead.
The Knights would score three more times in the third quarter, the first coming on a 1-yard run by Josh Lewis, at the 8:13 mark, followed by a 55 yard burst by Rikeece Covington for a touchdown with 4:30 left in the quarter.
The final Kenwood touchdown of the night came at the 1:44 mark of the third quarter, with Antwuan Branch going in from 14-yards out.
Both teams would play backups in the final quarter, with Northeast scoring the only points of the period on a 34-yard run by Nate Williams, with 2:55 left in the game.
Williams led Northeast with 64 yards on the ground on nine carries.
In the first quarter, Northeast scoring the game’s opening score just 1:31 into the game, with Pardue hitting Kevin Reid on a 39-yard TD pass for a 6-0 lead.
The Knights would answer right back, with Perry finding Cameron Coleman for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the game 6-6, with 5:25 left in the opening quarter.
Tre Edwards would give the Eagles their final lead of the night, 13-6 with 3:05 left in the first quarter, on a 30-yard touchdown run,
Both teams will learn their fates, November 2nd, as the TSSAA will post their post-season brackets, with Northeast — and Kenwood if they make the tournament field – most likely having to go on the road for their opening-round playoff matchups.
Box Score
Kenwood 44, Northeast 21
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Kenwood High School Knights | 6 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 44 |
Northeast High School Eagles | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 |
Scoring
First Quarter
NE—Kevin Reid 39-yard pass from Montrell Pardue (kick failed), 10:29
K—Cameron Coleman 10-yard pass from Malcom Perry (pass failed), 5:25
NE—Tre Edwards 30-yard run (Logan Rasnick, kick), 3:05
Second Quarter
K—Perry 22-yard run (Perry, run), 4:38
K—Angel Hall 57-yard pass from Perry (Perry, run), 34.8
Third Quarter
K—Josh Lewis 1-yard run (Perry, run), 8:13
K—Rikeece Covington 55-yard run (Coleman pass from Perry), 4:40
K—Antwuan Branch 14-yard run (run failed), 1:44
Fourth Quarter
NE—Nate Williams 34-yard run (Benji Burchwell, run), 2:55
Stats
Kenwood | Northeast | |
---|---|---|
First Downs | 21 | 13 |
Rush Att.-Yards | 57-432 | 32-188 |
Pass Yards | 104 | 1155 |
Total Offense | 536 | 303 |
C-A-I | 3-6-0 | 4-9-1 |
Punts-Avg. | 0-0 | 3-33.3 |
Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
Penalties-Yards | 139-105 | 8-65 |